A Fresh Start
by Serrazelgobaa
Summary: After a serious health issue, Greg is forced to live with Steven and the Gems, and is put on a severe diet. But as the time goes by he realizes this new situation could help him improve not only his health, but his whole existence as well. (Translated from the french story "Un nouveau départ")
1. Driving lessons

**Hello there! So this is the english translation of "Un nouveau départ" a long fanfiction I just started. It takes place around the beginning of season 4, and is mainly about Greg, though it will explore Steven and the Gems characters as well.**

 **I'm doing my best at translating but I'm not exactly a native english speaker so don't hesitate to contact me (reviews or pms) if there are some things you think I should improve, and I'll try to update as quickly as possible. Also the chapters may take a while to be released, writing AND translating is a lot of work.**

 **Hope you'll enjoy reading this!**

* * *

The sun was risen for about an hour when Steven left the house on the beach. Winter was coming to its end: the air was cold but for the first time in weeks the sky was perfectly blue. A slight sea breeze was blowing on the beach, carrying tiny clouds of sand and spraying salty droplets.

The boy scampered along the water, his cheeseburger backpack jumping between his shoulders. After passing the cliff where the huge temple statue was looming he arrived at the boardwalk, where multiple, delicious smells came to him: freshly baked donuts, marinara sauce and hot frying oil. Voices and cooking sounds indicated that Beach City had just awakened and was slowly getting to work.

But Steven didn't stop in any of these restaurants. He already had prepared everything: his backpack was full of candy bars, soda cans, bags of chips and homemade turkey sandwiches. He kept running along the boardwalk, boiling with anticipation and joy. It seemed like an eternity since the last time he really had spent time with his father, and when a few days ago Garnet predicted the next day without rain, he immediately decided that he would come to visit. The last day before he was so eager to see his dad again that nothing could distract him, not even video games, playing cards with the Gems, or Crying Breakfast Friends.

Also, Steven was a bit worried about his father: he had noticed that Greg was acting weird recently, looking preoccupied and sad. The man was a lot less talkative than usual, and even his smiles seemed kind of fake from time to time. Steven assumed that Greg was feeling lonely: spending boring days at the car wash, without anyone to keep him company other than the few clients, could have gotten on his nerves a bit.

It's been several years now from the day Steven moved in with the Crystal Gems: the three of them and his father agreed that the boy had to discover his mother's magical world and fight to protect humanity like she did. Greg knew this life was dangerous for mere humans and, as such, agreed to be left out. He always seemed to be totally ok with it, but... was he? What if he was just hiding his pain for his son's sake? Steven felt a bit guilty when he realized this question never came to his mind before.

 _It's okay. Now that everything is calm again, I'll get to see him more often and cheer him up._

Indeed, these last months were filled with adventures for Steven and the Gems: after they finally managed to defeat Jasper they had to contain all the monsters from the Beta Kindergarten. There also had to deal with more threats in the tundra and destroy a group of giant sea worms causing huge tidal waves on the Indian Ocean's coasts. All of these missions, though, were nothing compared to that time when he was accidentally thrown into space with Eyeball, who relentlessly tried to murder him (Steven kept in mind not to tell his dad about that one, to avoid any panic attack). Steven was happy that all these adventures were finally over: his return to Beach City had been a massive relief and now he was just hoping that everyone, including his father, could relax for good.

Steven's trip to the Car Wash was pretty fast. There were no machine sounds coming out of the building: Greg took a day off to spend some time with his son, therefore Steven saw him sitting at the back on his van, playing a melody on his guitar – a quite familiar view.

"Hi dad!"

Greg raised his head and his face brightened at the sight of his son. He got up and put his guitar away as Steven ran towards him to give him a long, tight hug.

"Hey, glad to see you, buddy!" The man greeted, with a small but happy voice "How is it going? I heard you had a lot to do with the Gems."

"Yeah, we had tons of cool adventures! I'll tell you about it, but I'm also glad it's over, feels good to take a rest. Plus I can see you now!"

Greg cracked a genuine smile. Steven took the time to observe his father: he had stains of sweat on his shirt (which was a bit strange given the cold) and dark circles around the eyes. He was definitely not looking good.

"Huh, dad?" Steven asked cautiously "Are you ok?"

"Oh, yes, yes" Greg answered, waving his hand neglectfully "I just had a few tiring days at the Wash."

Exceptional circumstances aside, the Car Wash was empty most of the time. Steven knew his father's job was anything but tiring. That could only mean one thing: Greg was lying. But Steven decided not to investigate further when he remembered something that instantly filled him with curiosity and enthusiasm, driving away his worries for the time being:

"Hey, you told me you had a surprise for me today!"

"Oh, that's right" Greg remembered, his smile widening. "It's right here!"

He pointed at a large cardboard box inside the van. Steven took a few steps towards it, his eyes glowing with excitement, but his father stopped him with a gesture of his arm.

"We can't use it there," he explained "we have to take a short trip with the van. You up to it?"

"Sure!" Steven replied happily as he rushed to the other side of the van to sit on the passenger seat.

Chuckling at his son's eagerness, Greg sat at the driver's seat and started the van. Steven noticed he was panting slightly.

Father and son left Beach City and reached a little country road. The trip was indeed short but pleasant: they exchanged no words for its whole duration, enjoying the silence and the wind on their faces. After a few minutes the van hardly went up a long, steep road before reaching a large flat terrain surrounded by wooden barriers. Greg stopped the vehicle right in front of a barrier and switched off the engine.

Steven came out of the van and looked around: he had never came here before. Around the square terrain were large trees moving in the wind and further away down the hill Steven could spot a lake with a shore of black pebbles. He finally understood what the dirt terrain was.

"Is that a car park for tourists?" He asked.

"Yes," Greg confirmed "but nobody will take a swim in the lake in winter. This place is deserted in this season, and it's exactly what we need for my little surprise! Steven, I need you to look away while I prepare everything."

Steven nodded and turned around. The place was very quiet: only the rustling of the leaves and the singing of the birds could be heard. The boy noticed a yellow bird with black wings on a tree branch. Its singing was incredibly beautiful.

 _It's an oriole,_ he thought.

There was a time when Steven and his father were going for walks in the forest pretty often, trying to recognize the different bird species. Greg was, at that time, passionate about ornithology and bought a bunch of books on the subject. But this passion burned out quickly: after a few months, he lost interest and stopped taking his son to the forest. As for the books, all of those who couldn't be sold were gathering dust in his storage unit.

It was one of Greg's strangest habits: always jumping from one hobby to another, getting excited about a new thing as quickly as he was getting bored. Thus he tried many sports and activities, but would always quit after a while. That's why his unit was full of various objects like golf clubs, a diving suit, theater masks or musical instruments. As far as Steven knew (and the Gems, who knew him longer than he did, confirmed) the only passion Greg kept for his whole life was the guitar.

The funny part was that, if you believed Greg, each new thing he discovered was the ultimate revelation. Each time he was claiming that this new hobby was his newfound lifelong passion, and he would train as hard as he could to master it – but he never committed. Once he even assured he could win the cup and ball game championship: he gave up when the ball gave him a black eye. It didn't matter though, because Steven was almost sure that there was no such thing as a cup and ball game championship.

But to be honest... it actually wasn't that funny. One day where Greg had just given up on silk painting (or was it ice carving ? Hard to remember), Steven asked Amethyst, who was his dad's former closest friend, about this habit. She explained that several years ago Rose and Greg were always trying new things together. Rose's curiosity towards human activities was insatiable, and she wanted to know absolutely _everything_. To satisfy her, her boyfriend made sure they were discovering as much hobbies as they could in a rather short time, and thus Amethyst remembered seeing her Gem friend with a surf board under her arm, or trying to throw a discus as far as possible, or crocheting table mats, all of these in the same week. And always with a wide, happy smile on her face.

Now that Rose was gone, Greg was still doing this alone. But why? To fill the void left by her? Or was he hoping Steven would join him and then they would spend more time together? Steven remembered all the times he had to refuse an activity with his dad, because he didn't have enough time or simply because he wasn't interested. He suddenly felt guilt for the second time of the day.

"It's done! You can turn around, Steven!"

The call roused the boy from his thoughts. He turned around, eager to know what the surprise was. At first he didn't see anything special, but when he looked at the van he noticed the weird setup on the driver's place: the seat was now equipped with a booster and a strange add-on made from a piece of wood topped by a metal plate was tied to each pedal with duct tape.

Suddenly, Steven understood what all of this was for. His eyes lightened up and his body shook out of excitement before he started screaming:

"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!"

"I'm not that far away, son" Greg pointed out.

"You... you're gonna teach me how to drive the van?!"

"Absolutely! Now that you're all grown up I decided it's time to pass down the pinnacle of your old man's legacy" Greg said, faking a solemn tone. "Since you're not old enough to get your license we'll just be training here."

He then invited Steven to get in with a hand's gesture. Ecstatic, Steven leaped in the driver's seat and was delighted to discover that his father's setup was really effective: thanks to it he could see above the wheel and his feet could push down the pedals perfectly.

"This is so cool! Did you make this on your own?"

Greg went around the van and, when he sat on the passenger's seat, Steven could see he was slightly blushing.

"Actually I got a little help from Pearl" he admitted "I'm not very comfortable with a hacksaw."

Steven was about to start the engine when his father stopped him:

"Woah, wait a second, buddy! Didn't you forget anything?"

The boy pondered for a few seconds, then realized he didn't adjust the mirrors, and also forgot to buckle up. He quickly complied, with Greg nodding in approval.

"Never forget," the man explained "that there are several things to check before starting a car. For example you should have looked around the van to see if there were flat tires or obstacles"

Steven nodded, then finally turned the key and started the van. Technically it was his first time driving for real: he thought about that time when he had to participate in a race against Kevin (the urge to put this arrogant pest in his place was too strong to refuse the challenge) but Stevonnie was driving, not him. Steven tried to remember exactly how the fusion proceeded: he de-clutched, shifted to first gear... when suddenly the vehicle jolted, flinging the boy forward.

"You made it stall." Greg noted, chuckling "It's okay, it will happen a lot in the beginning. See, you shouldn't let the clutch out too quickly: take your time."

The next hour was a bit hard: Steven had a hard time understanding the basics, and was afraid of damaging the van which he knew was his dad's most valued thing. However his numerous failed attempts weren't enough to sap his morale, and soon his perseverance paid off: he managed to make the van go forward smoothly and then, with Greg's guidance, tried different complex maneuvers.

Steven's happiness was immense: driving the van, being in such a peaceful environment and, most of all, spending time with his father was filling him up with joy, the kind of joy he hadn't experienced in a long time. For the first time in several months he felt like all the stress gathered because of the recent events was fading away, in the same way winter was slowly disappearing, making way for sunny days like this one.

Greg was happy too. He really missed his son, even if he understood and accepted the reasons why he couldn't see him often. As Steven tried parallel parking, his father told him about the first time he drove a car himself: Greg was 15 years old at the time, and hit several trees in his attempts. The story succeeded to make Steven laugh as well as reassuring him on his own performance. But despite that nice moment of bonding, Greg had less enjoyable thoughts going through his head.

Should he tell him? He didn't want to worry his son. After all, it was probably nothing. He already had this kind of problem before, and the pain always stopped after a few days. But this time it was a bit sharper than usual, so much that Greg couldn't help but grasp his chest from time to time, and he was sure Steven was seeing it even though he was focused on the road before him.

 _He has enough problems like that. No need to bother him with mine._

The man sighed. His son already had so many responsibilities, and despite being quite mature for his age, there was only so much he could handle. For Greg, telling Steven about his life issues had always been out of the question: a child should never have to deal with their parents' problems.

All of this would probably be easier if Greg had another person to talk to, an adult who could understand him. But the truth was, he didn't have any real friend: he wasn't that close to Beach City inhabitants. Rose was gone for fourteen years. He hadn't talk to Vidalia in ages. His friendship with Amethyst belonged to the past. Garnet was kind and respectful to him, but that was all. And even though spending that night with Pearl in Empire City helped both of them bury the hatchet, they didn't exactly take the time to bond since then.

Maybe it was up to him to change things. After all, things did shake up a few months ago, when Greg received a huge amount of money due to Marty selling his song "Comet" as a jingle for a fast food chain. But even if he still had several millions left, he had chosen not to change his life, saying he liked the one he already had. It was actually the truth: Greg liked his van, his job, and his status quo.

But what was wrong, then?

"Dad! I'm getting hungry!"

Steven's words brought Greg back to reality. He took a look at his golden watch (an extravagance he was quite proud of).

"Oh, it's past midday!" he noted "Lunch time!"

Steven nodded and stopped the van at the top of the steep road leading to the car park (they were practicing hill start). Both of them got out of the vehicle and found a little stretch of grass where Greg spread a large blanket while Steven was taking the food out of his backpack.

"So, how did I do?" the boy asked, sitting on the blanket and unwrapping a turkey sandwich before taking a huge bite.

"Really good!" Greg replied, opening a juice can."You need a bit more training, but you could become an excellent driver pretty soon! We'll come back here from time to time so you can drive more."

The man stopped for a second, then continued with a shy voice:

"Only if... if you don't have anything more important to do, of course..."

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Steven reassured "The Gems and I are done dealing with a lot of important stuff. Now I have plenty of spare time!"

The boy took another bite of this sandwich and, after munching and swallowing, spoke again:

"Besides, what's more important than spending time with my favorite dad?"

"Oh, I'm your favorite dad?" Greg asked, faking a surprised tone "What an honor! What exactly helped you make this hard decision?"

"Well, I think it's when you promised me that this afternoon we would go see the latest Lonely Blade movie and you would buy me all the candy at the theater!" Steven answered with a grin.

"But I never prom- Wait a minute..."

Steven stared at this dad with the same cute face he had when he wanted to move the Gems. Greg burst into laughter.

"You little smarty-pants!" he exclaimed. "Just because I'm rich doesn't mean I'll give you anything you want! I don't want to make you a spoiled brat, you know?"

"I know, dad" Steven said, smiling.

"But hey, I'm not against going to the movies later" Greg admitted "and buying a _reasonable_ amount of candy!"

"Really? Awesome!"

Greg gave his son an affectionate look. Steven's smile faded when he noticed his father was clenching his chest again.

"Huh, dad?"

"Yes, Stew-ball?"

"Are you... sure you're okay?"

Greg quickly removed his hand from his torso and took the time think about an answer. He couldn't lie anymore, but he didn't want to generate unnecessary concern.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine" he finally said "it's just my heart being a little tired. It happens from time to time but it always goes away, not a big deal."

"You're sick?" Steven asked, worried. "Oh, maybe I can help!"

The boy brought his hand to his mouth to lick his palm, but his father stopped him.

"No Steven, I don't think your healing powers can do anything. It's not exactly an injury or a disease."

"What is it, then?"

"Well, it's..."

Greg stopped talking and looked up. Despite the van being far away, he could have swore he had seen it moving slightly.

"Steven" he asked, preoccupied "Did you put the hand brake on correctly?"

Confused, Steven turned his head. It was clearly visible now: the van was moving backwards, towards the very steep road.

"Oh no!" Greg screamed "Oh no, no, NO!"

He didn't have the time to get on his feet and rush up: the vehicle was now going down the road, completely out of control. Terrified, he started chasing it, followed by his son.

While running, Steven analyzed the situation. The van was gaining a lot of speed and further below was an abrupt turn bordered with trees. If the van crashed into those trees, there wouldn't be much left of it, or of all the stuff it contained. Knowing that the vehicle and its content were very important for his father, the boy proceeded to run faster.

"Don't worry dad!" he exclaimed, passing him "I got this!"

His eyes were so focused on the van he didn't noticed Greg was running slower and slower.

When he felt like he was close enough, Steven jumped into the air and tried to focus on a happy thought. It wasn't that hard: the peaceful morning he just had did the trick. He felt a warm sensation on his belly as his Gem activated, enabling him to float upwards. He then described a long arc in the air and, when arrived above the van, focused his mind again.

 _If the van crashes my dad will be sad._

The rose quartz in his navel understood the message and made him go down a little quicker. Steven landed harshly on the van's roof, bending the metal slightly. That fall could have hurt a mere human – luckily he wasn't one. It took him a lot of effort to crawl on the roof, reach for the door, open it and enter the vehicle zooming down the road. After a quick check, it appeared that the hand brake was indeed released, but fixing this mistake right away could be dangerous: the stop would be too sudden, making the van spin out and probably drift off the road. So Steven decided to press the brake pedal gradually instead: the vehicle slowed down, bumping on the dirt, and finally stopped. Relieved, the boy allowed himself a gasp of air.

As he applied the hand brake correctly, Steven felt immensely proud. Not only did he save his father's van and every important object it contained, but he also reacted perfectly in a crisis situation, combining his human and Gem capabilities. Maybe his dad was right: maybe he could become an excellent driver, after all.

"Dad! Dad! Did you see that? I did it!"

No answer. Intrigued, Steven watched carefully through the windshield ; Greg was nowhere to be seen.

"Dad?"

The boy came out of the van and hurried up the road. The more he walked, the more his anxiety was growing.

Then he finally saw him, and felt his heart fall in his chest.

"DAD!"

Steven ran as fast as he could – too slow for his tastes. His lungs were burning, chills were running down his spine and a sob was rising in his throat.

Greg was lying down, his face to the ground, motionless.

Steven rushed towards him, dropped on his knees, and shook his shoulder vigorously.

"Dad! DAAAD! ANSWER ME!"

The boy couldn't hold back his tears flowing on his face, soaking his shirt. He quickly turned his father onto his back and listened.

Greg was not breathing.


	2. At the hospital

Everything that happened next seemed unreal to Steven, like it was just a nightmare. He felt like the weeping boy struggling to type the emergency number on his phone with his shivering fingers wasn't really him. When the paramedics asked him about his identity and how exactly Greg passed out, he answered mechanically, sometimes not even able to formulate proper sentences. In the ambulance he couldn't do anything other than holding his father's hand as tightly as he could: even the loud siren sounded muffled to his ears.

The sight of the hospital, though, dragged him out of his aloofness. He had really bad memories of this place: the only time he had to visit it, Connie and him had been confronted with dangerous mutant Gems. And even if this time they were no more monsters, Steven was always wishing he'd never had to come back to this horrible place: he was hoping his healing powers would be enough to prevent anyone he loved from having to go there.

But this time, his powers didn't work. He actually tried: his first action, even before calling for help, had been applying his healing saliva on his father's chest... in vain. Maybe Greg was right: his problem might not be a real injury or disease. But what was it then? Steven didn't know much about medicine, and was astonished to discover that there were some things that Rose Quartz's power couldn't cure. Could a doctor really do more than him in this case?

The hospital was even worse from the inside: the emergency department was the most depressing place Steven had ever seen. The pale gray walls, the cool colored tiles, the neon lights, the smell of household products... everything there was making the boy uneasy. He walked past several victims of a traffic accident covered in blood, a sick man vomiting in a bucket, and a crying family, trying as hard as he could not to look at any of them. Patients and nurses were forming a dense crowd, so loud it was giving him a headache.

An old nurse with kind eyes walked up to Steven and explained that his father needed to get surgery as quickly as possible, and that the rest of his family had been called and would arrive soon. The boy just nodded apathetically, then followed the woman who led him into an empty waiting room and, after assuring him he would get more information soon, left him alone.

Steven tried as hard as he could not to cry again. He was both desperate and angry: angry at Greg for not telling him he wasn't feeling good, angry at himself for not noticing something was wrong, angry at the Gems for neglecting his dad, angry at the doctors for not allowing him to stay by his side. He knew this anger was pointless and that's why he didn't let it out, neither on the paramedics, nor on this old nurse, nor even in this empty room where nobody could hear him... but it was still here. After a while though it went away, replaced by a horrible pain.

 _Why if they can't save him?_ He wondered. _Why if dad... died?_

The thought of him losing his last real parent was unbearable, but it quickly took over his mind, driving away everything else. Steven curled up in a ball on his chair, burying his head into his crossed arms, and waited, counting each minute with the apprehension of hearing the nurse return and tell him his worst fears had come true.

But the next voice he heard was not the old woman's.

"Steven!"

The boy raised his head and froze. At the room's entrance the three Crystal Gems were staring at him, visibly worried. Pearl was the first to rush towards him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace.

"Are you okay?!" she screamed in an alarmed tone "We came as fast as we could!"

Steven didn't answer. Torn between his negative feelings and his relief to not be alone anymore, he didn't really know if he wanted to push the Gem away, or rather hug her back.

Amethyst took a few hesitant steps forward. She didn't have her usual joyous, carefree attitude: she looked mortified, and Steven noticed her eyelids were bloated, indicating she had cried.

"What's... what's the matter with Greg?" she asked, her voice shaking a bit.

"I don't know yet" the boy replied, sniffling "They told me he had to get surgery, and I had to wait here until they give me news."

"It will be okay Steven" Garnet assured in her usual neutral tone "your father will be just fine."

Steven looked at her: her visor was masking her three eyes, hiding her expression, but he noticed her jaw clenching slightly. Suddenly realizing something he frowned, pulled away from Pearl's embrace, jumped from his chair and walked up to the fusion.

"Garnet," he asked in a cold tone that didn't sound like him "why couldn't you predict this?"

"Steven..."

"Why couldn't you predict that my dad was going to be sick?!" he shouted in anger. "You can see everything! And he wasn't feeling well for weeks! Why is this a surprise for everybody? Why do we have to be in this hospital in the first place? We could have avoided all of this! Now I don't even know if he's going to die or not! Did you decide to not care about him just because he's a human?! Did you think your future vision was too precious to waste it on an insignificant being such as my father?!"

Amethyst's eyes widened in horror. Pearl pressed her hands against her mouth.

Garnet shuddered but didn't manage to formulate any answer, or to get rid of her stoic stance.

"WHY?!" he yelled "Why didn't you do anything? Why couldn't any of you do anything?! Why..."

He dropped on his knees and lowered his head so much his hair was brushing against the floor. A great silence fell in the room before Steven could finish his sentence, whimpering:

"Why couldn't _I_ do anything?"

Steven then burst into tears. Pearl and Amethyst knelt down beside him and both put a hand on his shoulder.

"You're right Steven," Garnet stated in a slightly guilty tone. "I wasn't focusing on Greg lately because we had many threats to face: I was mostly afraid for you, I used my power on you to make sure you would be safe, and that's how we were able to get you back when you got thrown into space with the Ruby. I would never have thought that out of everyone of us, your father would be the one in danger."

She crouched to reach the boy's height, and removed her glasses. Steven could see the sincerity and regret in her eyes.

"That doesn't mean I don't care about him." she continued "I know how important he is to you, we all do. Besides we swore to protect humanity, and he's part of it. I hope you can forgive me."

Steven got up and threw himself into Garnet's arms. She returned the hug tenderly.

"I'm not mad at you Garnet" the boy said feebly "I'm not really mad at any of you guys. But I'm so scared... this is all my fault... If only I applied that brake correctly..."

"It's not your fault Steven." Pearl assured softly "This isn't anyone's fault: it's just a succession of... unfortunate coincidences. Don't worry too much, I'm sure everything will be okay."

"Yeah, Greg is a tough man" Amethyst added, patting Steven's back "he'll get over it!"

"For now," Garnet concluded, putting her visor back "you need to relax. Stressing out will not help your father recover."

She stood up, carrying Steven in her arms, and went up to a chair before sitting down, resting him on her lap. Without saying anything, the other two Gems sat by her sides and Pearl gently stroked the boy's hair with her hand. Soothed by this caress and tired from the anger and sorrow he just experienced, Steven felt his body relax, his mind drift away and, after a few minutes, he fell asleep.

* * *

 _"Where am I?"_

 _Everything was dark. He couldn't even see his own hands. There was no sound except his footsteps, resonating like he was in a large, empty room._

 _Suddenly a bright light appeared, blinding him for a moment. After a few seconds Steven's eyes got used to the luminosity and he tried to figure out where the light was coming from._

 _It was a screen. A huge cinema screen, entirely white. Its clarity revealed two big velvet armchairs in front of it ; the boy approached them carefully._

 _"This is probably a dream." he thought._

 _Steven knew that although the majority of his dreams could be as absurd and pointless as normal people's, some of them actually contained important messages and even helped him resolve conflicts. He also sometimes wondered if his mother, who was still part of him, was using some of his dreams to communicate with him. For all of these reasons he was always extremely vigilant every time he knew he was dreaming, to not miss any essential clue._

 _As he was getting close to the chairs, Steven noticed a broad silhouette seated in one of them._

 _"Steven?" it called._

 _"Dad!"_

 _Greg got up, his arms open, and his son ran towards him. As they were sharing a long hug, Steven closed his eyes and thought. That wasn't the first time he was interacting with someone he knew in a dream: he had already managed to communicate with Lapis Lazuli, and to help Kiki, one of the daughters of the Pizza family. If his father and him could reunite in a dream, that probably meant he was still alive._

 _"Oh dad, I was soooo worried!" he whimpered "I thought you were... you were..."_

 _"There there buddy, I'm alright!" Greg replied softly "I regained consciousness in the hospital, but a few minutes only: they told me they had to put me to sleep for the surgery. I didn't know you could dream during an operation."_

 _"It's not an ordinary dream: this happened to me before. We actually met in the same dream. Right now I'm sleeping too!"_

 _"That's... part of the stuff you can do? Oh boy, I could really use a complete list of your powers."_

 _Father and son broke the hug and both sat on the armchairs, staring at the white screen in front of them._

 _"Pretty cool, huh?" Greg remarked in a cheerful tone "We have a movie theater just for us!"_

 _"Yes, but there's nothing on the screen." Steven observed, a bit confused "That's strange."_

 _"Didn't you tell me you wanted to see the latest Lonely Blade movie? Maybe if we both focus we can make it appear... with an imaginary pop corn bucket!"_

 _"Dad, this is serious! When I have this kind of dream, it's always for a reason. There must be a problem we have to solve."_

 _But there was a difference. When Steven was communicating with Lapis Lazuli she was really afraid: Malachite's presence was tangible, threatening, the atmosphere was tense and creepy. It was the same thing with Kiki Pizza: they had to fight grotesque, terrifying monsters made from pizza ingredients. But here, there was nothing scary or dangerous: nothing besides this screen, two seats, and the silence._

 _Steven took a look at his father: no doubt he was feeling uncomfortable. Greg never liked getting involved in magic phenomenons, mainly because he knew he couldn't do anything. He was just a human after all, and Steven thought that after everything he already got through, bothering him with more problems wouldn't be the smartest thing to do._

 _"Forget it, you're right" the boy finally said, smiling. "Maybe this dream just exists for us to spend more time together. Let's see if we can put a good movie on this screen!"_

 _"No, wait."_

 _Greg scratched his head then took a deep breath, finding the courage to speak again._

 _"Look, I know you think all of this magic stuff scares me, and that's a bit true... okay, that's_ totally _true. But I also know what you're doing as a Crystal Gem is important. If this dream is hiding something you have to discover what it is, and if you need it... even if I'm not sure I'll be of much use... I'll always try to help you."_

 _A great silence fell between them. Steven felt a lump in his throat: only now did he realize how much he needed to hear these words, and he knew the fact that they were in a dream wasn't making them any less sincere. He put a hand on his father's arm._

 _"Thanks dad." he said._

 _Greg looked at him affectionately, then asked:_

 _"So, what should we do? How are we supposed to solve this magic mystery?"_

 _Steven pondered for a moment._

 _"There's nothing in this room" he finally answered "besides the screen and the chairs. How about you search them? Meanwhile I'll try to make this screen display a picture or something."_

 _"Alright."_

 _Greg stood up and started inspecting the armchairs as Steven was focusing._

 _"Show me what you've got for me" the boy thought._

 _The screen showed no reaction._

 _"Come on, what do you want to tell me?" he insisted mentally "Why did you bring me here? What's supposed to be on this screen? Is there a threat?"_

 _But the screen stayed white. Steven clenched his fists, contracted all of his muscles and concentrated so hard he got a headache._

 _"A threat" he muttered "A threat..."_

 _From whom could it come from? Jasper, or Bismuth? Impossible, they were both bubbled in the temple, totally harmless. The Diamonds? There was no reason for them to attack again: they weren't even considering the remaining Crystal Gems a serious menace. Steven thought about his other friends: Lapis Lazuli, Peridot, Connie... was one of them in danger? If that was the case he would have seen one of them, not his father._

 _His father... Steven stopped briefly on this thought, but shook his head. He already tried to cure him and didn't succeed. Furthermore, Greg was a human, and not a fighter: he represented no threat for their enemies, and there was no reason for anyone to try to attack him._

 _Still, he was the one sharing his dream. But why would he need his son to enter his mind? After all his heart was the problem, not his head... Right?_

 _"Hey Steven! I think I found something!"_

 _Steven came back to reality. Greg's voice was coming from behind the screen ; the boy joined him there._

 _"Check this out."_

 _The man was pointing at an old looking wooden chest. Steven examined it: it was very similar to the chest he had found in Lion's mane, which he never succeeded to open, to his frustration, because of the missing key. But this one was different: it had no lock, just a latch that could easily be pulled. The boy felt his heart racing when he realized he could easily discover its content and, maybe, the meaning of this dream._

 _Steven opened the latch, put his hands on the chest's cover..._

* * *

"Steven?"

Garnet's voice pulled him from his dream. He took a few seconds to emerge.

"Steven, the doctor is here." Pearl whispered.

The boy looked up: a woman in a white coat with a tanned complexion and long, grizzled brown hair was standing at the room's entrance. Steven recognized her easily.

"Dr. Maheswaran?"

"Hello Steven." the woman replied "When I saw your father's name on the emergency admissions list I insisted on taking charge of him. I thought it would be easier for you."

Steven left Garnet's lap and walked up to the doctor. Priyanka Maheswaran was looking much less strict and intimidating than usual; her eyes were filled with compassion and she leaned slightly towards him before announcing with a calm voice:

"Your father is totally out of danger for now. He came early enough for us to perform surgery on him without any trouble. There won't be any complication."

Steven felt a huge weight lifted off his chest. His euphoria was so intense that he wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. He turned around to look at the Gems: Amethyst was exulting, Garnet nodded with a smile, and even Pearl let out a slight sigh of relief.

Steven spontaneously rushed to the doctor and hugged her legs. The woman froze in surprise.

"Thank you Dr Maheswaran!" he exclaimed, looking up to her with thankful eyes. "Thank you so much!"

"No need for familiarity" she answered in a stern tone "I'm just doing my job."

The boy stepped backwards, then asked:

"So, what did he have? Why did he need surgery? Can we see him?"

"I'll explain everything. My office will be a better place to talk, please follow me."

Steven and the Gems followed the woman through crowded hallways until they reached a door with a sign saying 'Priyanka Maheswaran, M.D.'. The doctor opened it and gestured everyone to come in before entering the room herself.

The office was much more welcoming that everything else Steven had seen in the hospital: the walls were painted in a warm orange, and the whole room was decorated with potted plants and framed pictures (he recognized his best friend Connie in some of them). In the center was a beautiful mahogany desk: the doctor sat behind it and Steven sat in front of her, in a leather seat. After a short silence, the woman folded her hands and began speaking.

"Your father" she explained "had a myocardial infarction. Do you know what it is?"

Steven shook his head no. He didn't have much knowledge in human anatomy: for an obvious reason the Gems couldn't exactly teach him on the subject.

"The human heart is supplied by three arteries giving it the oxygen and nutrients it needs to keep beating. But sometimes one of these arteries gets clogged, and the blood can't flow through a part of the heart. That part ends up being... damaged. That's what we call a heart attack."

The boy took the time to reflect about this new information. He was starting to understand why his healing powers didn't work: obviously the word 'damaged' she used was an understatement for something more... permanent.

"So we operated to unclog the artery" the doctor continued "and we put a stent: it's a little tube keeping the vessel open, so the blood can flow correctly."

"I understand." Steven replied "But why did my dad had this problem in the first place? Why would an artery get clogged like that?"

Priyanka sighed.

"We're getting to the hard part." she declared "The surgery alone won't fix everything: if nothing changes, it's very likely your father will have more heart attacks in the future, and more serious ones."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean, Steven, is that the artery was blocked by an atheroma. It's an accumulation of... fat, to put it simply."

"Oh..."

"That means the true reason behind this heart attack is a unhealthy lifestyle. Bad eating habits, not enough physical exercise..."

"Yeah" Amethyst approved "Greg did let himself go lately."

"Amethyst!" Pearl scolded.

"What? It's the truth, you think he's been cooking healthy meals in his van? And I can't remember the last time I saw him lift a dumb-bell!"

"The thing is" the doctor interrupted "if he doesn't want his condition to get worse he'll have to be on a severe diet. And it's the family's responsibility to make sure he commits."

"Don't worry ma'am" Steven assured "I'll do everything to prevent my dad from coming back to the hospital!"

The woman nodded, then took a sheet of paper and started scribbling. With her free hand she typed something on her computer's keyboard and a humming noise came out of large printer on her right.

"Mister Universe's treatment is composed of an anticoagulant and a vasodilator: you will get all the details in the prescription I'm writing. Also I'm printing recommendations on his diet to make your task easier."

She signed the prescription, got up, retrieved the documents from the printer and stapled them. At this moment a few knocks could be heard on the door.

"Come in."

The door opened: it was the old nurse Steven had seen earlier.

"Mister Universe just awakened, Doctor Maheswaran." she announced.

"Oh, perfect, you can visit him now" the doctor declared. "Henrietta, would you guide his family to his room?"

"Sure."

"I'm going to leave you for now, I have other patients to take care of. You can take your father home tomorrow in the morning, Steven. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yes, yes" the boy assured "Thanks a lot, Doctor Maheswaran. Huh... Tell Connie I say hi."

"I will." the woman replied, smiling "Ah, don't forget about the documents. And don't hesitate to contact me if you need."

She handed the documents. Pearl took them and scanned them thoroughly as the group left the office and went through less crowded hallways, led by the nurse.

"Er, Garnet?"

"Yes Pearl."

"Can you read that word right here?"

The fusion peered at the line her friend was pointing out on the prescription, then answered:

"Nitroglycerin."

"Oh, I see..." Pearl said "Well, if there's one thing that hasn't changed over the centuries, it's the doctors' illegible handwriting. Thankfully the rest is printed."

After a moment the nurse stopped in front of one of the doors in a long row.

"This is his room." she explained "But you won't have much time to see him: the visiting time is almost over. I'll came back to tell you when you need to leave."

She then left them alone. Steven turned to the Gems.

"Guys," he asked, a bit embarrassed "are you okay with me seeing him alone first? I'll tell you when you can come."

"We don't mind at all Steven." Garnet answered "Take all the time you need. We'll be waiting here."

Amethyst pouted but didn't add anything. Steven cast his friends a grateful look, then entered the room.

The sight was much less impressive than he expected. There was no huge beeping machine, no bunch of drips and weird tubes, no mask tied to a respirator. The boy thought that Under the Knife, a satiric medical show he liked to watch with Connie, may had forced an exaggerated view of the hospital world into his head.

Greg was seated in his bed, his back held up by a pillow, smiling to his son. He was looking a bit tired but way better than this morning.

"Hey Stew-ball." he called. "Glad to see you again!"

"Me too dad. How do you feel?"

"Quite good. The pain is gone, for the first time in several days."

"You should have told us you weren't feeling well. You scared me so much! Even the Gems were worried."

"You were already worrying about too many things, Steven. I didn't want to give you another unnecessary burden."

"You're _not_ an unnecessary burden!"

Greg just shrugged.

"No, seriously dad!" Steven insisted. "This is not what I think. This is not what they think either. You're important to me, more important than every magical mission in the world!"

The man sighed.

That accident, that dream he had, and this moment he spent reflecting while waiting for his son to visit, had had unexpected consequences: Greg had realized that his current life, despite being peaceful, simple and seemingly perfect for someone like him, might have less pleasant aspects he deliberately ignored for too long. For the first time in his life he had questions to ask and doubts to raise. He wasn't exactly sure of what he wanted, everything was confused in his head, there were just seeds of a new thought, the thought that things couldn't keep going the way there were. That he didn't want them to.

Greg was sure his son meant it when he said he was important to him. Still, he felt like he wasn't deserving all the love and admiration Steven was showing him day after day. Maybe he had always felt that way, after all ; maybe approaching death only made him realize that fact.

 _Whatever, this is not the right time or place to talk about this. And my son is not the right person either._

"Okay, I believe you buddy" Greg finally said "I'm sorry for not telling you, and for scaring you."

"It's fine dad, I forgive you."

A room stayed silent for a few seconds, then Steven swayed back and forth on his feet, hesitating.

"Huh... I asked the Gems to wait outside so I can talk to you alone..." he said after a moment "about that dream..."

"Oh, yeah." Greg replied "It's not that I didn't believe you back then, but I was waiting for you to tell me about it 'for real'. So we really shared the same dream?"

"Yup. Too bad we didn't have the time to look inside that chest. I'm sure it was important... hey, wait! Maybe we actually can see it!"

"How?"

"Simple, we have to meet in another dream! Tonight when we will go to sleep, we will get in this cinema again and we'll continue our investigation!"

"Are you sure it can work twice?" Greg asked.

"Absolutely, I did it before! I came back several times in Kiki Pizza's dreams. She had sister issues... Jenny was keeping asking her favors and... whatever, that's not important! I think I'm sent into this kind of dreams to solve a problem. And since we don't even know what the problem is yet, I'm sure we'll see this chest again!"

Greg was listening to his son carefully. He didn't exactly understand everything, but he couldn't help but wonder if all of this had anything to do with the weird new thoughts coming through his head. He felt his curiosity growing, knowing that tonight, maybe, he would be able to figure some things out.

"Okay Steven." he approved "I'm eager to know what this is all about too."

"Great! Alright, I'll go get the Gems now."

Steven ran across the room, opened the door and gestured the Gems to come in.

"Hello guys!" Greg greeted "Nice of you to come by."

Garnet got straight to the point:

"Greg" she announced "The three of us decided that you will stay with us until you've fully recovered."

"Really?" Steven asked, his eyes glimmering with joy "Awesome!"

"Recovered?" Greg questioned in a confused tone "I've already recovered! The pain is gone, everything's okay!"

"That's not entirely true." Pearl objected, her eyes browsing the prescription she was still holding "Doctor Maheswaran informed us that you needed a severe diet. And according to what is written here she prescribed you a treatment for an angina pectoris! When were you planning to tell us?"

"Ah, you know, it wasn't a very big angina pectoris... huh... until a few fays ago?"

Greg felt a few drops of sweat on his forehead.

"You could have died, dude!" Amethyst exclaimed in a reproachful tone "Believe me, we're keeping an eye on you from now on. Also, what? Aren't you happy to live with us?"

"Yes, yes I am, I'm always happy to spend more time with my son. But a severe diet? Really?"

His voice was pleading, but Garnet's answer was final:

"Yes. We'll make sure everything goes right. We'll come for you tomorrow in the morning."

She then turned to her fellow Gems and Steven:

"The nurse is about to get in there and tell us we have to leave. We should go now. Goodnight, Greg."

"See ya, G!" Amethyst said "And sleep tight!"

"Yeah, sweet dreams, dad." Steven added.

He then winked at his father. Greg winked back.

As the four left the room they came face to face with the old nurse.

"Oh my goodness!" she said with a big smile "Just as I was about to enter and tell you that you had to leave. What an amusing coincidence!"


	3. Shopping and confessions

**Wow, thanks for the favorites/followings/reviews! I wasn't expecting that much! I really hope you'll like this third chapter. It's the last one I'll translate for now, I have to write more in french before I can update this version. I'm answering your reviews at the end of this chapter!  
**

 **In the meantime, enjoy :)**

* * *

 _"Ready dad?"_

 _"More than ever! Go ahead!"_

 _Steven took a deep breath and flipped the chest's cover. His eyes were shut from the effort, and he hesitated a few seconds before opening them again._

 _A stone. A single black stone, the size of his fist, was at the bottom of the chest. There was nothing else._

 _"That's it?" Greg asked, disappointed._

 _Steven reached out to the stone and took it in his hand. It was cold and perfectly smooth._

 _"It certainly has a use of some sort." the boy stated "Maybe there's something to do with the screen."_

 _He went around the screen to face it again. There still was no picture on it, but something did appear on its right, a small figure floating above the ground. As he was coming closer, Steven realized it was a hand, white and shiny like it was made of ivory, wide open akin to a beggar's. Without further thinking Steven walked up to the hand and cautiously placed the stone in its palm. The white fingers curled around the stone, clenching it tightly._

 _"Hey, something is happening" Greg remarked._

 _Both of them took a few steps backwards ; indeed, the screen was now displaying something else, like a multicolored, abstract painting twisting randomly._

 _"How did you know that you had to do this?" Greg asked._

 _"I don't know" Steven answered, scratching his head "I just, kinda, did it."_

 _"Ah well, I'm not judging: you know better than me how you solve a magic enigma. Sometimes it's better to just follow your gut!"_

 _The whirl of colors persisted for a few seconds, then slowed down and turned progressively into a single image. Steven watched the outlines becoming clearer, and suddenly his mouth shot open._

 _"Dad!" He exclaimed, pointing at the screen now displaying what looked like an old photograph "That's you!"_

 _"What?"_

 _Greg narrowed his eyes. It was indeed him on the picture, sitting on a beach, facing the ocean._

 _"This is... weird." he admitted with a confused look in his face._

 _"It's a start!" Steven replied happily "At least we got an important clue."_

 _"Which is?"_

 _"It's all about you! I was afraid that dream would be about me, or the Gems, or other stuff but apparently it wants to send you a message. It's the same that the one with Kiki: we have to find out what the problem in your life is, and solve it."_

 _"Uh, well... I don't think I have any problem kiddo. I mean, yes, I had one, but I'm good now."_

 _"Kiki thought she didn't have any problems too." Steven explained "And then we dig deeper and we eventually found something. Trust me, we'll sort this out!"_

 _"I do trust you, but..."_

 _"But what?"_

 _Greg's eyes met Steven's and, seeing his son's questioning look, the man suddenly felt complete disarray._

 _That evening hadn't been exactly peaceful: after Steven and the Gems left, during the few hours he had spent alone waiting to finally fall asleep, he got the time to ponder these weird new thoughts coming to his mind. These thoughts, and also the prospect of living temporarily with his son, were filling him with a chaotic flurry of contradictory emotions ; he was impatient, confused and scared at the same time._

 _At the end of the evening, after he was finally done meditating, Greg came to a conclusion, a realization that made him tremble with fear. He tried hard to deny this fact, because stopping lying to himself would have meant turning his whole existence and way of thinking upside down, and change was not something he was especially fond of. But all the denial in the world couldn't do anything ; when tonight he closed his eyes to meet his son in his dreams, it had become an inconvenient truth:_

 _Greg Universe, despite having a simple and peaceful life, wasn't exactly a happy man._

 _But how could he tell his fourteen year old son about this? Steven had already been through so many hardships... but after all, not telling him about his heart problems had been a mistake ; lying to him twice might not be a very wise thing to do. And maybe Steven was right: maybe this dream could be the occasion to explore this horrible truth, and get something useful out of it._

 _Greg nodded mentally. Yes, he would tell him everything – but not now. And progressively._

 _"You're right Steven." he finally declared. Maybe this dream can help me know myself a bit more. Let's try to figure out the deal with this picture!"_

 _Steven approved with glee, and Greg's eyes focused on the screen._

 _"The photo looks old." he remarked "Do you see it? It's worn around the corners."_

 _"Do you think Mom could have taken this one?" Steven asked._

 _"That's totally impossible, son."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"Because your mother always saw me with all my hair."_

 _The boy looked closely. The top of his father's head was indeed as bald on the photo as it currently was. But something else caught his attention._

 _"Hey dad!" he exclaimed "you're much... thinner!"_

 _Steven was right: the Greg on the photo seemed to have lost a lot of weight. He still had a sturdy look with muscular arms and broad shoulders, but his belly was much less prominent. His shirt was not stretched by his body anymore, and overall he looked stronger and healthier. Even his cheeks were a little less round._

 _"Wow, you're right!" Greg recognized with a smile "I'm looking good!"_

 _"That'd be great if you were actually like this... Ooooh, wait a minute!"_

 _Steven's face brightened suddenly._

 _"The Gems decided you'll be on a diet! Maybe you'll look like this afterwards! Dad, what if this screen was showing the future?"_

 _"The future? I don't know, Steven. Why would the future look like an old photograph? And what's the point in seeing the future in a dream? If I want to know how many pounds I'm going to lose I can just ask Garnet. I thought we would be discover more important things, to be honest."_

 _Greg was obviously disappointed. Steven came closer and took his father's hand._

 _"Oh, don't be upset dad. I'm sure we'll find something else! We just have to put our heads together."_

* * *

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

Steven woke up with a start, screaming in terror. He darted his eyes everywhere to find out where the noise was coming from: an ancient, purple alarm clock was vibrating wildly on his bed, producing an ear-splitting ring. Despite still feeling sluggish the boy spotted the violet gemstone at the top of the device.

"Amethyst!" he screamed in irritation "Stop it!"

The alarm clock disappeared in a bright light and Amethyst took back her usual shape.

"Rise and shine buddy!" she exclaimed happily "We have to go get Greg!"

Steven rubbed his eyes and looked around: Garnet and Pearl were downstairs, waiting next to the door. Pearl's eyes were squinted in annoyance.

"Amethyst" she scolded "I asked you to wake him up, not to terrorize him!"

"Oh, it's fine, he'll survive!"

"We're ready to pick up your father from the hospital, Steven." Garnet announced "We are just waiting for you."

"Oh!" the boy replied "Okay, I'm coming, gimme a minute!"

He jumped from his bed, rushed downstairs, rummaged through his wardrobe to get some clothes and quickly went to the bathroom.

* * *

Greg was glad to leave the hospital: the atmosphere was unsettling, the beds uncomfortable and the food pretty bad. But when all of them returned to Beach City and Pearl parked the van on the beach in front of the house, he couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive. The last time he actually lived with his son and the Gems was a long time ago, just after he lied about a broken leg, and back then his presence hadn't been tolerated very well. And even if now he was all clear and he was hoping things could be different, he was still wondering if a long stay could lead to another conflict.

He was also a bit worried about this diet thing. Greg never had that much money (at least until recently) but food was the one thing he never deprived himself of: he had a weakness for copious meals since he was a child – his mother was indeed an exceptional cook. And Rose always encouraged that behavior ; she loved to discover new flavors, or simply doing eating contests with him (she won almost every one of them). Greg had amazing memories of him and his lover lying on the beach on their backs with their bellies completely full, foreheads sweaty and mouths gaping, painful consequence of their unreasonable feasts.

Nobody ever forbade him eating whatever he wanted, and he already had noticed he could become kind of... cranky when he couldn't eat his fill. He wondered what kind of diet the Gems were planning for him, and what consequences it would have on his mood.

"Come what may." he thought, getting out of the van and starting to unload his belongings.

The big benefit of living in a van was how easy it was to move house: everything was already packed and there was no furniture or heavy stuff. Greg just took some clothes, toiletries, and more personal objects like a sketchbook, the framed picture of Rose and him and, of course, his guitar. He piled everything up in an empty box then carried it upstairs to the front door with difficulty.

Entering this house always filled him with mixed feelings: although he had built it himself it never truly was his home. Despite that fact, he managed to put himself at ease quite quickly and, after he finished unpacking, he took a seat on the couch next to his son, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace into which Garnet just had put a new log. The Gems soon joined them and the rest of the morning was nothing else but the group chatting by the fireside, without any game nor special activity. It was simple, yet Greg found it surprisingly pleasant.

The conversations were about various subjects more or less related to recent events: the hospital world, the appropriate behavior while driving, the Gems adventures... Greg noticed that everyone was avoiding to talk about his diet or his future stay: he chose not to ask any question for the time being. When it was almost lunch time he negotiated to order a pizza "as a last farewell to my former unhealthy eating habits" he said. His proposal was accepted, though reluctantly: after a heated debate Steven managed to convince the Gems than a single pizza wouldn't do much harm.

After lunch Garnet took the warp pad to go on a lone mission, Amethyst went out to hang around only-she-knew-where, and Pearl went to town with Steven to buy Greg's medicine and healthy food. Thus the man stayed alone for a while, but he didn't mind much: he was used to solitude and knew at least this one wouldn't last. To kill time he discovered a series of books that belonged to his son, relating the adventures of two young penniless boys living a peaceful nomadic life. He was in the middle of the third chapter when he heard knocking on the door. He got up and went to open, then looked down, a bit startled, on the little brown haired girl standing at the entrance before him.

"Connie, what a surprise!"

"Good afternoon Mister Universe. I'm not bothering you, am I?"

"You're not, you're totally not... but Steven isn't there. Actually there's nobody here but me."

"Oh I know that" the girl assured "I called Steven before coming. But he told me he'd be back soon so I thought it would be okay for me to come now and wait for him, you know, to surprise him."

"Uh, alright. Come right in!"

Connie entered the house and went to sit on the couch, looking around shyly. After a short moment her eyes stopped on the open book on the coffee table. She immediately took this opportunity to avoid an awkward silence.

"Are you reading _the No Home Boys_?" she asked.

"I was just looking for something to pass time until everyone comes back" Greg explained, heading towards the kitchen.

He took a pack of apple juice out of the fridge and filled a glass.

"But I gotta admit this story is really interesting" he continued, getting back to the living room "I think I'll finish this one, and take a look at the other volumes."

He offered Connie the glass of juice. She accepted it with a polite nod.

"In my opinion only the first book is worth reading" she stated "When you read the others you realize the author only cares about making money and just doesn't try to write well. If you like adventure I'd rather recommend you _Unfamiliar Familiar_. Many adults think these books are for children just because there are talking animals and the covers are pretty and colorful, but that's not the case at all. The story actually deals with mature themes and I think fantasy is a genre that everyone can appreciate! What I like in particular is that..."

She suddenly stopped talking, and blushed slightly.

"I... I'm sorry." she mumbled "You're probably not interested in what I'm saying. When I talk about something I really like I can get a bit... chatty."

"Hey it's fine, there's nothing wrong with being passionate" Greg assured "and I'm interested. I'll ask Steven if I can borrow the books you're talking about, and I'll give you my own opinion."

Silence then filled the room. Greg observed the little girl sipping her apple juice: her eyes darting everywhere and her neck retracted into her shoulders were making her look like a scared squirrel. It seemed like she was trying to say something: she was opening her mouth every now and then, about to talk, then changing her mind at the last moment. After a few minutes the man thought maybe he had to get her started.

"What's the matter, Connie?"

Connie sighed at the question. She put the empty glass on the table and stared at him with a saddened look.

"My mother told me about your health problem. It makes me sad, you know. Steven cares about you very much and I wouldn't like anything bad to happen to you."

Greg looked at her in stupefaction. He knew his son's best friend was a kind child but he would never have thought her compassion could expand to him. He felt a warm sensation in his heart, knowing that this time it's wasn't due to a disease.

"Don't worry about me." he told her softly "I'm much stronger than I look! Besides your mom did her job well, I feel way better now."

Greg never knew exactly what pushed him to speak again:

"And between us... what happened to me actually has its bright side."

He instantly regretted these words. He bit his lower lip, afraid of Connie's reaction, but to his great surprise she didn't seem shocked at all: she rather nodded slowly, with a sympathetic look on her face.

"Steven told me about the time you had to live with him and the Gems, after the incident with Lapis Lazuli." she mentioned "He told me you were really happy to spend time with him."

A new, short silence fell into the room.

"You're happy now too, right? To be with him again? To not... to not be alone anymore?"

Greg's face lit up a bit and he let out a sigh – not a sigh of regret, but curiously a sigh of relief. He was sincerely touched by Connie's concern, and realized he had no reason to feel ashamed, especially not in front of a child who, despite being young, knew what loneliness was like.

"Yeah, you're right" he admitted with a genuine smile "I'm really happy to spend more time with Steven."

He suddenly felt in a good mood, like when he was ending a serious talk with his son and was concluding by a joke or a hug. He felt like this conversation too could use a lighter ending.

"You know, just because I told you that you could talk to me anytime doesn't mean you have to return the favor!" he pointed out "As far as I know I'm the adult here!"

"Yes, I'm sorry." she answered, chuckling "I hope I didn't disturb you too much."

"You're forgiven. However, if you could avoid telling Steven about all of this. He's been through a lot lately and I'd like to spare him for a little while."

"Of course Mister Universe, I won't say anything!"

Greg smiled again, then presented his open hand to her.

"Human beings?"

Connie didn't hesitate to give him a high five with her tiny hand.

"Human beings!"

Suddenly her eyes widened.

"Oh, I just remembered!" she exclaimed "I brought you a Get Well gift! I wanted to give it to you at the hospital but you were already gone."

"Really? You didn't have to, you know..."

Connie grabbed her backpack, opened it and searched for a few seconds, then she pulled out what looked like a pink book with a hard cover and a small, golden padlock attached to it. She held the book out to Greg: the man took it cautiously and flipped through the empty pages with a confused look.

"It's a diary." she explained "You can lock it so nobody else can read it - you see, the key is in the padlock. I figured you'd like something to write down your thoughts. Unless... maybe you're already doing it.

"Nope, I never wrote anything – beside songs, of course!"

Greg examined the diary. He wasn't exactly convinced of its usefulness but decided not to show it: he patted the young girl on the shoulder.

"Thanks Connie, it's really nice of you. I'm sure it'll be helpful."

"You're very welcome Mister Universe... But, now that I think about it... I bought one with a pink cover. Does it bother you?"

This time Greg laughed heartily.

"If it bothers _me_? From whom do you think Steven got his fascination for this color?"

"Um... from his mother?"

This response startled the man for a moment, but he quickly regained his joyful expression.

"Touché." he admitted in a happy tone "But I love pink too!"

* * *

"I don't think taking Brussels sprouts is a good idea, Pearl."

"Why not? It's healthy."

"Yeah, but dad hates them."

Pearl stared at the packet, a bit hesitant, but eventually put it back on the shelf.

They were almost done shopping: the cart was full of fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen fish, lean meat and low fat yogurt. Only a small empty space was remaining in the front: Steven was standing inside of it, shivering from the cold coming from the freezer department.

"I guess it's a good thing that you came with me." the Gem admitted "You can tell me what Greg likes or not."

"Of course I'd come with you! What we're doing now is very important. Plus it was more convenient to come here with Lion: we travel faster and we can put the groceries in his mane."

Steven scanned the cart's content once again.

"The problem is, dad doesn't like vegetables in general..." he said "But I suppose we can avoid the things he really, really dislikes."

"He'll have to make an effort anyway. His condition is serious, Steven... I don't understand why he didn't warn us that he wasn't feeling well."

"Maybe he didn't want to bother us. And maybe we should have watched over him a little bit more too."

Pearl looked uneasy for a brief moment, but then her expression turned neutral again and she cautiously looked around her.

"Well, it seems like we have everything we need" she declared "let's get out of here, you'll catch a cold if we stay in this department."

"What? No, no, I'm okay."

"Steven, you are trembling for several minutes. And your toes are blue!"

Steven looked down: he was only wearing sandals and his feet were indeed a weird color. Pearl pushed the cart until the end of the department and they ended up in a large, empty aisle leading to the checkouts.

Suddenly, Steven started to shake again – out of excitement this time – and turned around, his expression both pleading and playful. Pearl was confused at first, but then quickly understood what he wanted.

"Out of the question!" she said sharply.

"C'mon Pearl! Pleaaaase!"

"I said no! That's completely ridiculous... and dangerous. We could run into someone!"

"Naaaah, it's safe! There's no one!"

"Don't insist, Steven."

The boy pouted, then mumbled loud enough for the Gem to hear him:

"Amethyst would have done it."

Pearl knew he was saying that on purpose, but it affected her anyway. She stamped her foot in annoyance, frowned, and finally conceded defeat:

"Alright, I'll do it... but just this once!"

"Yaaaaaaay !" Steven exulted with a triumphant smile.

"Hold tight."

Steven nodded and gripped the front edge tightly. Pearl started pushing the cart, slowly first, then faster and faster, until she was finally running at full speed.

The cart zoomed along the aisle, its wheels trembling, its content rattling and producing a high pitched noise that, despite being quite loud, was almost entirely covered by Steven's "YAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!". They were going so fast that the boy was feeling wind on his face and everything around him went blurry. They rushed past several others customers and a security guard who were staring at them with dropped jaws. The race was as intense as it was short; when arrived at the checkouts Pearl pulled the bar vigorously and the cart stopped in an elegant 90 degrees controlled skid.

Ecstatic, Steven took a few seconds to pull himself together before exclaiming:

"Haha, that was amazing! We'll have to do it again sometimes!"

"Then you'll do it with Amethyst. Come on, get out of here, it's time to pay for all of these."

Though, while Steven was climbing out of the cart, Pearl couldn't help but smile slightly.

The groceries paid, they both left the supermarket and went to the parking lot where Lion was waiting for them, lying on a spot. Seeing them approach, the feline yawned, stood up and lowered his head so Steven could enter his mane with the heavy bags. Once he came back out and caught his breath, the boy just stood still, frowning a bit. Pearl noticed his hesitation.

"What's wrong, Steven?"

Steven looked up to meet her eyes, scratched his head, and finally asked:

"Pearl, can I ask you a question?"

"Of course. What is it?"

"My dad living with us... do you think it bothers Garnet and Amethyst?"

The Gem's eyes widened in surprise.

"Well, uh, I doubt it." she answered carefully "But you should probably ask them. They would be more able to answer this question than I am."

Steven nodded, then shyly continued:

"And... what about you? Does it bother you?"

Unease was once again visible on Pearl's face, but she just shrugged.

"I don't think my personal feelings matter that much. Greg needs our help, and we'll do our best to make him feel better."

"You know that's not what I meant."

Pearl sighed deeply.

"Yes, I know... To be honest, Steven, I don't know how to feel about this. It's likely Greg will stay with us for a long time and... believe me when I say I don't hold any grudge against him anymore, we're getting along a bit better today – mostly thanks to you. But tolerating someone visiting you from time to time is one thing, sharing your everyday life with them is another matter. If he actually lives with us, things will change for the most part. And I don't know if you noticed it already, but change tends to... not suit me very well."

She pronounced this last sentence with a shaky, small voice. Steven put a comforting hand on her forearm.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it will be just fine. We had a great time this morning when we had that chat by the fireplace... I think my dad really enjoyed it. There will be more good moments like this one, I promise."

The Gem nodded with a feeble smile and stroke the boy's hair. Then, without adding any word, they both mounted Lion and, when Steven lightly patted his shoulder, the pink feline ran up the parking lot's aisle, let out a roar and disappeared in a magic portal with his two riders.

* * *

 **I don't exactly know when the fourth chapter will be wrote/translated, but I'll do my best to finish it quickly.  
**

 **Now for the reviews:**

 **TheBlade17: Thanks a lot! I see you also reviewed the french version... I hope this one is easier to read for you!**

 **Master of the Boot: Thank you soooo much! It really means a lot, since writing huge texts in english like this one is something I've never done before. Glad to know I'm doing it decently :D And thanks for the fav/follow!**

 **Guest Gem: Thanks! Though the reason why I used the "family/friendship" tags is just because it's the main genre of my story: that means if there's anything else not related to this theme (like action, drama, romance, suspense or anything else) it will be "minor" to the story, as subplot for example (don't read between the lines though, that doesn't mean there will be any of these things either, I'm not spoiling my own story :D).**

 **Lola: Because I have to :(**

 **KimDWil71: Thank you! And thanks for the fav/follow!**


	4. Hunger and conflicts

**I finally did it! This chapter is HUGE but I just couldn't split it: it's kind of a whole "arc". Also I added titles to the chapters and I worked on correcting a few mistakes in the first three.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

The very first day Greg spent with the Crystal Gems was a bit frustrating for him: he was eager to be alone with his son to talk further about their common dream, but didn't get to. When Steven came back from the supermarket he spent the rest of the afternoon with Connie and evening was already falling when she left. The man didn't mind much though: he would have all the time to be with his son in the future, to solve this mystery or even just to have good times with him. And maybe in the meantime he could aim to get closer to the Gems: he promised himself he'd try in the next few days.

For now it was dinner time: it was time to discover what kind of diet he had to follow. Greg took a seat at the kitchen's bar apprehensively. The gems were standing behind the counter facing him and Steven was sitting beside him, watching silently.

Pearl exposed as exhaustively as possible every detail about his future stay: what kind of behavior he had to adopt, what time he had to wake up, what his treatment consisted in and when he had to take it, what he was allowed to do or not, and many others things. Greg couldn't help but note she was speaking in a rather condescending tone, like she was addressing a child to which she'd dictate the rules of the house, but he merely listened, without saying a word.

When the question of his diet came on the table, he winced slightly when earing the list Pearl was expounding:

"From now on you won't eat anything other than the meals cooked by one of us: no more snacking, no more deliveries, no more fry bits, no more carbonated beverages. The meals we'll prepare for you won't contain any saturated fat, sugar, salt and, of course, no alcohol."

"The last part is fine." he affirmed "I've never really liked alcohol."

"In a few days," Garnet added "when we'll be totally sure your state of health allows it, I'll have you exercise a bit."

"WHAT ?"

Greg straightened up on his chair, his eyes widened in surprise.

"I thought it was just about me eating healthy stuff!" he complained "I hate exercising... I hated every sport I've ever tried!"

"This is not negotiable" the fusion replied sharply "If you live in our home, you follow our rules."

Steven frowned a bit: he didn't like this comment very much. Still, he put a comforting hand on his father's shoulder.

"It'll make you feel better, dad." he assured "And you'll go at your own pace: you'll show him mercy Garnet, right?

"Of course Steven." she answered with a smile.

"As for me, I'll punish Greg if he ever disobeys us." Amethyst intervened "So I'd watch my step if I were you, dude!"

She jammed her fist into her palm to illustrate her point.

"For now," Pearl concluded "here's your first meal."

She pushed a covered plate towards him. Greg removed the lid and discovered steamed vegetables and a piece of chicken to which the fat and skin had been carefully removed. The man took a small, hesitant bite, then his eyebrows rose in surprise: it was way better than he thought. The vegetables were nicely seasoned, the meat was tender and the whole dish was actually quite tasty.

"Wow, I'd never expect healthy food to be so good!"

"Thanks for the compliment." Garnet replied.

"Garnet is better at cooking than me." Pearl admitted with a sigh "To be fair, it's easier when you can actually taste what you're cooking."

"You're to blame for this!" Amethyst remarked "I offered many times to be your taster and you've always refused."

"You drink used motor oil, Amethyst. You're not a reliable taster."

"I drink _clean_ motor oil!" the small Gem rectified "I would never have waste oil, I have standards!"

"Hey, Garnet!" Steven called, waving his arm."What will _I_ eat?"

"Don't worry Steven, I didn't forget you."

The fusion walked to the oven, opened it - Greg flinched when he realized she wasn't wearing kitchen gloves - and pulled out a large bowl she put in front of the boy.

"Homemade mac and cheese!" he exclaimed with delight.

He grabbed a spoon and hungrily dug into the food.

"Sooo good!" he said with his mouth full, his eyes gleaming with ecstasy "Even better than those packets from the store!"

Greg watched his son eat with a displeased look on his face. The delicious smell of the macaroni bowl and the sight of the creamy, glimmering cheese sauce was making his own plate a lot less appetizing, and the next few bites of vegetables felt blander than before. When glancing at his father, Steven noticed his frustration and mentally reprimanded himself: it was cruel of him to display his enjoyment while eating what somebody else was deprived of. He pledged himself to be less expressive for the next meals.

After he took the last bite, Greg raised his eyes. He was so absorbed in his thoughts he hadn't even noticed the kitchen was emptier: Garnet took her leave to go into the temple and Amethyst was now upstairs watching television, surrounded by chips and candy packets she filched from the cupboards. The only ones remaining in the kitchen were Steven finishing his bowl and Pearl doing the dishes. The silence was a bit too oppressive to Greg's liking and, as he was bringing his empty plate to the Gem, he made an attempt to improve the atmosphere.

"If I eat like this everyday I'll have your silhouette in no time, Pearl." he said jokingly.

Steven couldn't help but chuckle at these words, his cheeks full of pasta and cheese. Pearl just rolled her eyes.

"Don't be silly Greg." she replied "First, that's physiologically impossible. And second, despite what you might think, what happened to you has nothing to do with the fact that you are... um..."

"Fat?"

"Overweight." she quickly corrected.

Greg looked at her with a piercing gaze, obviously upset. Pearl blushed slightly.

"What I mean," she continued "is that a heart attack is not directly linked to a person's weight. It can happen to anyone regardless of their shape."

"Did you learn this from Doctor Maheswaran's notes?"

"Yes. This diet's goal is not to make you lose pounds, though... it can actually be a side effect."

"Is that so? To what extent?"

"Well I'm not exactly sure, but in my opinion - if you involve yourself, of course - you might look like this in a few months."

Pearl took a few steps forward and briefly closed her eyes. Greg saw the gemstone on her forehead glow and project a light blue beam on the counter, right next to Steven. An indistinct shape took form inside the ray and a few seconds later the boy and his father were staring at a miniature Greg, transparent and blue, standing on the bar. The hologram was indeed thinner, while still retaining a strong stature.

 _That looks familiar_ , Greg thought.

His eyes met his son's, and he realized they both thought the same thing.

* * *

The first days passed slowly for Greg, in a succession of bittersweet notes. After the destabilizing transition between a dissolute, anarchical life in a van and that new organized existence with set meal times and waking times, the man found himself appreciating not having to care about anything: that reminded him of his youth when he had nothing to worry about, watching the time go by and playing his guitar, letting other people (at that time, mostly Rose and Vidalia) take care of important matters. He had temporarily closed his Car Wash so he could take the time to adjust to this new life, and future events proved him that was a wise decision.

Obviously, spending more time with Steven was the most interesting aspect of this stay: each episode of a show they watched together, each game of checkers they played, each walk on the beach or Guitar/Ukulele duet warmed Greg's heart a little more. He was starting to realize he could totally get used to his son's permanent presence, even though he knew that these moments, sooner or later, would come to an end.

Greg also noticed Steven was trying has hard as he could not to snack in front of him or not to express too much delight while eating the food the Gems were cooking for him. The boy was making every effort to support his father, encouraging him permanently, congratulating him for each little progress, cheering him up when needed and even preparing his pill box everyday, making sure he was taking his treatment at the right hours. Both of them managed to be alone at some times to talk about their dream, but they haven't had new ones since the hospital, and it turned out they didn't have much to talk about for now.

Unfortunately, not everyone was as sensitive as Steven, starting with Amethyst: Greg's presence was not preventing her from performing the same acts of food debauchery as usual. Luckily most of these excesses were gross enough not to entice him: even though it was frequent for him to leave the table hungry, Greg was not especially tempted by a pulled pork/marshmallows/toothpaste sandwich or peanut butter spread on cardboard. But sometimes Amethyst could also eat more "normal" food, like pancakes, burgers or burritos, and watching her was then a real torture. Even worse, it seemed like Amethyst herself was taking cruel pleasure in eating in front of him, and even Steven or Pearl's remonstrances couldn't stop her from taunting Greg, letting out fake groans of satisfaction while stuffing her face with junk food.

The other Gems' behavior wasn't much more satisfying: Garnet and Pearl were simply ignoring Greg most of the time. He sometimes tried to strike up a friendly conversation with them but any non technical question was dismissed and each of his attempts at a joke to lighten the mood was met by an awkward silence.

As the days went by, the constant void in his stomach became less and less bearable. The meals were way too meager for a man of his constitution, who was used to gargantuan dinners for many years. Leaving the table only half full was one of the worst sensations he ever experienced and after one week of draconian diet, he was seriously thinking about eating something in secret.

He made the final decision the ninth day, as his stomach was gurgling despite the soup he had eaten just an hour ago. After waiting for night-time, when Steven was asleep and the Gems had retreated in their respective rooms in the temple, Greg got up from his guest bed made from the couch's cushions and tip-toed towards the kitchen. Luckily the moonlight was going through the front window, allowing him to get to the cupboards easily.

Once arrived there, he hesitated for a moment, feeling a little bit of guilt at the idea of betraying the trust that the Gems - and especially Steven - were giving him. But his hunger was too intense for him to turn back: he couldn't sleep well for several days because of it, and this time he was determined to have a good night.

"It'll be just once." he thought "A single snack won't do much harm."

He suddenly started in surprise, spotting a dark figure passing quickly by the house's door from the corner of his eye. He turned his head and watched carefully, but there was nothing to be seen.

"Looks like hunger is giving this old man hallucinations" he said to himself, his forehead covered in sweat.

He used a little step stool to reach the high cupboards and his heart leaped in his chest when he opened one of them: it was crammed with bags of chips, candy boxes and soda cans. His starving eyes stopped on a large cookie jar and he felt saliva filling his mouth as he grabbed it and pulled as silently as possible. The glass was brushing against the other packets, producing a slight rustling noise - though not loud enough to wake up his son who was peacefully sleeping upstairs. After a few seconds, the jar was almost entirely pulled out...

ROOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR !

A thundering roar resonated in the whole house, shaking the walls and even taking down some of the framed pictures. Greg jumped so high that he tumbled from the step stool onto the kitchen's tiles, bringing with him not only the jar that shattered on the floor, scattering glass and cookie crumbs everywhere, but all of the cupboard's content that fell loudly around him as well. The man straightened up, his back sore, his hand adorned with a nasty cut, his heart pounding. He glanced everywhere in an attempt to know where this horrible cry came from - but it wasn't long before he found out.

Lion was standing right in front of him, his muzzle only a few inches away from Greg's face. The man had always been a little scared of the beast - though he was pretty docile most of the time - but this time he had every reason to be afraid: Lion was displaying a ferocious expression that he had never seen before. His fangs were glowing from the moonlight and his eyes were staring at him intently, almost in a judging manner.

"LION !" Steven yelled from his bed "ARE YOU NUTS?! WHY ARE YOU ROARING LIKE THAT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT?!"

Steven's shouting caught both the feline and Greg's attention as they turned their heads towards the room upstairs. The boy jumped out of his bed, flew down the stairs... and froze upon seeing what was happening.

"...Dad? What are you doing?!"

Greg felt his face burn with shame. He stood up laboriously, having a really hard time looking his son in the eye.

"H-hey buddy" he stammered with a forced smile "Did you see that? Looks like your old man's a sleepwalker!"

* * *

Greg paid a high price for his deviation: the Gems shut all the cupboards away and reprimanded him severely, affirming they would watch him permanently from now on. Surprisingly Steven came to his father's defense, assuring Lion taught him a lesson and he would never do it again. The Gems were not convinced and definitely not in a forgiving mood.

But what happened next was even worse: when Steven tried to use his healing spit to get rid of the cut on his father's hand, he realized he couldn't do it: his power was not working anymore. The news was met with great worry and, for Greg, with a deep feeling of guilt: he was sure the shock caused by his heart attack or his recent betrayal was the cause. Either way it was his fault, and it wasn't the first time... He bitterly pondered on these thoughts as Pearl, who took pity on him, was bandaging his wounded hand.

Unfortunately, time seemed to be Greg's worst enemy: a few days later, his guilt and regret were diminished - but his hunger wasn't. He reluctantly decided to find another way to eat something, this time without anyone finding out.

"What Steven doesn't know can't hurt him", he thought.

It seemed like since the beginning of his diet he caught the strange habit of talking to himself, especially to find excuses, but he quickly brushed off this thought.

One morning, as the sun was barely risen and Steven was still asleep, Greg got up, put on warm clothes and walked towards the front door. This time he wasn't alone: Garnet and Pearl were sitting at the counter, talking in a low voice. The man noticed Garnet was holding something red in her hands ; he didn't get the time to see what is was before she rapidly hid it.

Curiously, none of them reacted when Greg passed through the door, quietly announcing he was going for a walk in town. As he was going downstairs he looked around for any signs of Lion, and found him sleeping on a rock. He then gleefully crossed the beach and reached the boardwalk, not believing his own luck as a delicious smell of fresh donuts came to his nostrils. The prospect of biting into one of these smooth, sugary pastries was making him drool and shake in impatience. Claiming he was going for a walk to get something at the Big Donut was so simple of an idea he was wondering why he hadn't thought of it earlier.

The doorbell rang when Greg pushed the door. The establishment was just opening but its employees were already busy... or more accurately, Sadie was already busy: Lars was sitting at the counter, playing a game on his phone, not even bothering raising his head to look at the first customer of the day.

Sadie jumped upon seeing Greg, her face growing strangely pale. She put the last Lion Lickers in the freezer in a hurry, then ran behind the counter, jostling Lars on her way.

"Hey Mister Universe!" she greeted in a kind but seemingly embarrassed tone "Err... it's been a long time!"

"Hello Sadie, a long time indeed." he answered, a bit disconcerted "How's your mother?"

"Pretty good... She sometimes wonders when you'll agree to play poker against her again."

"Haha, never! Given her level I shall not stay a millionaire for long if I keep this up!"

Sadie giggled nervously, her fingers drumming on the counter. Her behavior intrigued the man a little, but he wasn't the kind of person to interfere in people's personal matters.

"I'd like two strawberry jam filled donuts, please."

The young girl let out a deep sigh and lowered her eyes. Greg noticed her attitude reminded him of Connie when she tried to hide a truth she was uneasy about.

"Look Mister Universe..." she started with a hesitating voice "I'm really sorry. I swear it's not against you - actually it's for your own good..."

"What are you talking about? Why are you sorry?"

Sadie raised her chin, looking at him in the eyes.

"A Gem came to us a few days ago." she admitted.

Greg's heart fell into his chest.

"A Gem?" he repeated, incredulous.

"The one who looks like a stork!" Lars added without tearing his eyes away from his phone.

"Don't be rude, Lars!" Sadie scolded angrily.

Her face softened a bit.

"She told us about what happened to you... why you had to go to the hospital and everything. She asked us... not to serve you."

She bit her lower lip after saying these words. Greg couldn't believe his ears.

"You'd refuse a customer?" he asked.

"That's not the point, Mister Universe. A heart attack is serious, you know. You shouldn't take it lightly."

"I appreciate your concern Sadie, but I'm totally capable of knowing what's good for me or not. You can't just refuse service to me like that!"

"Please sir, be reasonable..."

"Ah c'mon!" Lars muttered "Give him the donuts already, he's not going to leave us alone anyway!"

He grabbed two donuts in the counter and shove them into a paper bag.

"It'll be three bucks and forty two cents." he announced.

"Lars, no!" Sadie protested, snatching the bag away from him.

"What's wrong with you? Just because that stork lady said..."

"I don't want to play a part in this! I don't want to see this! Not again!"

"Oh please don't fight, kids!" Greg exclaimed in a soft voice "I can still go to Fish Stew Pizza for something to eat..."

But neither Lars nor Sadie were paying attention to him anymore.

"Just calm down! It won't be your fault!" Lars grumbled, rolling his eyes.

"You don't understand! You can't understand!" the girl cried out.

"There's nothing to understand! Let him eat whatever he wants, it'll be his problem if he die-"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH LARS!"

While yelling these last words Sadie smashed her fist on the counter so violently that one of the display cases shattered in pieces. A disturbing silence fell into the room. Lars was staring at the broken glass, speechless.

"Uh... I bet you need some alone time." Greg said carefully "I'm... not that hungry anyway."

He backed away towards the exit, his mind still confused by what he just witnessed, then left as quickly as possible.

The first "non-customer" gone, Sadie grabbed a broom and a dustpan then, without saying a word nor looking at her co-worker, gathered up the broken glass. Her eyes were clouded with tears. Lars just watched her with a remorseful look on his face.

"Huh, Sadie?"

"What?" she replied sharply.

"I-I'm sorry, you know. I... I totally forgot that your dad..."

"I told you to shut up, Lars."

After she was done cleaning up she threw the glass into a trashcan, then wiped her eyes.

"I gotta take care of the next batch of donuts." she announced with an aloof voice.

"Hey, you know what?" the young man answered, rushing towards the backroom door "I'll do it! You just stay here and... relax for a while."

Lars opened the door and disappeared in the other room. Sadie sighed, sat behind the counter, and buried her face in her hands.

* * *

It seemed like the Gems had warned every food business in Beach City: everywhere Greg went, people refused to serve him. Neither the hotdog booths at Funland, nor the Pizza or Fryman family agreed to sell him anything. He was finally understanding why the Gems weren't even trying to hold him back when he left the house.

Slightly aggrieved, he was about to go home when his eyes stopped on one of the boardwalk's garbage cans. It immediately reminded him of his youth: many years ago, when he didn't have enough money to buy food, he was often scavenging for fry bits in the trash. He actually passed down to Steven his fondness for fryer's bottoms, those golden, crunchy treats too many people left behind: Greg always told his son they were one of the many hidden treasures of the planet Earth, unfathomable to ordinary people.

Greg headed towards the trashcan and smiled when he spotted several paper plates half full of seemingly edible fries.

"What a shame, people shouldn't waste food like that." He thought "But I'm not complaining at all!"

By coming closer though, a strange smell came to him. He leaned towards the trashcan and sniffed, frowning a bit.

"Is that... bleach?"

There was no possible doubt: the trash was entirely covered in bleach. The fries were still soaked in it and, of course, not edible at all. Greg couldn't believe it: they even thought of that...

"It's disgusting!" he muttered out loud.

"Nah, I don't agree. I think it gives a funny taste!"

Greg moved back a little to this response. A squirrel was now perched on the trashcan's edge. A squirrel with lilac fur.

"Come on Amethyst, don't tell me you eat fries with bleach!" he exclaimed.

"Gotta admit they go better with ketchup, but it's still good."

The squirrel took a fry in its little claws and shoved it in its mouth.

"Just a word of advice Greg: drop it." Amethyst said.

"What?"

"You won't beat us. We're a million steps ahead of you, man! We decided you won't eat between your meals and you can't do anything about that."

The air of superiority she had while saying these words was getting on his nerves a bit, but he chose not to answer.

"Plus imagine how Steven would react if he knew you were trying to get grub behind his back. You think he'd be happy?"

She actually hit a nerve: Greg thought about the night his son and Lion caught him, and lowered his head.

"He'd be disappointed" he admitted.

"Yup. So you better stop messing around."

This time the man scowled at her.

"It would be easier if you stopped taunting me every time you eat a burger. Unlike you I'm not eating just for fun, this diet makes me hungry all the time and to see you do that doesn't help at all."

"Ah please, I'm just joking!" Amethyst replied, shrugging.

"It's not funny."

"You're so sensitive! You can't ask us to stop enjoying things just because you can't have them! Just... I dunno... look elsewhere when I'm eating and you'll be fine."

Greg wasn't finding himself to be sensitive, he actually was thinking he had every right to be upset. Nevertheless, he stood silent one more time.

"So, in theory I have to watch over you until you go back home" Amethyst explained "but since we took every precaution so you don't do anything stupid again I think I can actually leave you. So, see ya."

After jumping from the garbage can and turning back into her original self, she started to walk away along the boardwalk.

"Amethyst, wait!" Greg called.

The Gem turned around, staring at him with curiosity. The man scratched his head.

"How about we go to Funland Arcade?" he asked "I have enough change for both of us. I'm sure I can whoop your butt at Skee-Ball!"

Amethyst blinked in surprise at the request, but shook her head.

"Nah sorry dude, not this time. I wanna get back home to see if Steven's awake. We planned on training to form Smoky Quartz."

At the sight of the man's confused expression she continued talking, her voice and eyes filled with enthusiasm:

"Oh that's right, we didn't tell you yet. Steven and I fused not so long ago! We even showed it to the others, and oh man did they go crazy! The problem is... Smoky can get a bit carried away sometimes, that's why we're going to do it on the beach. Last time we destroyed the TV and half the house before Sardonyx came in to calm things down! It was awesome!"

Greg now understood why the Gems had asked him to buy a new television a few weeks ago. He was used to buy furniture on a regular basis (it was one of the drawbacks of having his son raised by magical beings) but not being told about the reason was leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Well I'll come with you." he finally replied "I'm curious to meet this fusion too."

"Great! This way we'll run into Garnet: I believe she said she wanted to speak with you today."

"Did she? About what?"

"Not sure, but I thinks she wants you to start exercising a bit!"

The man felt drops of sweat on his forehead.

* * *

"I want you to start exercising a bit." Garnet announced.

Greg and her were on the beach right in front of the house. Further, Amethyst and Steven were practicing their fusion choregraphy, but they were spending more time collapsing on each other laughing than really dancing.

"You... you'll go easy on me, right?" Greg asked, wincing a bit.

"I know your heart has been weakened by your accident and you can't make too much effort yet. That's why I found a convenient solution."

At the bottom of the stairs was Steven's hotdog shaped duffel bag: Garnet walked to it, leaned forward to open it and pulled out a large, dark red woolen sweater.

"All you'll need to do" she explained "is wear this all day long. You'll only remove it when you go to sleep."

"What? That's it?" Greg asked, dumbfounded.

"That's it."

The man couldn't help but laugh nervously. He was expecting everything from the fusion - she was indeed known to be fond of "the hard way" in combat as well as in everyday life - but certainly not that. If all he had to do was wearing clothing (although the sweater seemed thick and days were getting warmer) it would be nothing compared to the 10 miles run or the 100 sit-ups he imagined.

"Alright." he said in a decided tone "Bring it on!"

Garnet held the sweater as she helped him put it on, but when she released it Greg felt his knees and back bending as an invisible force was pushing him downwards.

"Whaaaaaa-what's happening to me?!" he exclaimed in panic.

"I put metal inside of it." Garnet explained "That sweater weighs approximately 20 pounds."

"What?! Are you kidding?! I can't wear this thing everyday!"

"You can and I'll make sure you will. This is the best way to get you back in shape without using your heart too much. Don't worry, you won't even feel it after a while."

"Allow me... to doubt it!" he answered, gritting his teeth from the effort.

Greg remembered about the red object Garnet was holding in her hands when he left the house in the morning. He would have preferred never knowing what it was.

"Metal weights aside, that sweater looks pretty nice" he remarked, trying to see the glass half-full "I didn't have red ones... where did you buy it?"

"Well, I..."

Garnet got closer to him and talked in a low voice:

"...I made it myself."

Both of them never knew how Steven, despite being quite far away from them, managed to hear these words... but he did. He yelled a huge "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" then dashed through the beach like a rocket-ship and stopped right in front of the fusion.

"Garnet, you... YOU CAN KNIT?!" he asked, his eyes glimmering like stars.

"Indeed." Garnet confirmed, smiling "I knew I shouldn't have said it: I mistakenly underestimated your sharp ear."

"I'm ALWAYS listening when it's about learning cool stuff about you! How long have you been knitting?"

"A few months. Amethyst brought me knitting magazines from her friend Vidalia, and I used them to learn."

For some reason, Greg felt a pang of emotion when hearing Vidalia's name.

"Garnet wanted to surprise you, Steven." Amethyst explained, walking up to the trio "She wanted to supply you with warm clothes for the next winter."

"Really?" the boy asked "Oh please Garnet, do it anyway! I'll act surprised!"

"Anything for you." Garnet answered, her smile widening.

"Awesome! Come on Amethyst, we gotta get back to work! I want to fuse before lunchtime!"

Steven and Amethyst got a little further and trained their fusion dance again. Having nothing else to do, Garnet and Greg sat on the beach side by side and watched them. After a few minutes, the man displayed a troubled look that Garnet couldn't help but notice.

"You have a problem." she stated.

It wasn't even a question. Greg took a deep breath before talking:

"I would've liked you guys to tell me about Smoky Quartz. My son fusing with another Gem is an important event, I know it. It's important for you, for him... and for me, too."

"We wanted to wait for a little while before telling you... especially given the circumstances in which Smoky Quartz was born. We thought a human would have a hard time understanding the impact of such an event."

"Well you are wrong. You know how much I care about fusion, Garnet. You know it more than anyone else."

Garnet nodded. She remembered how insistent Greg was when he asked for help to fuse with Rose many years ago, how interested he was by this uncommon bond, to the point of wanting to experience it with the one he loved. And he actually did it - if not physically, spiritually at least: Garnet, who was there that particular night, felt it.

"You are right." she finally said "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I understand how hard it is for you guys to tell humans about your world... Even Rose had a hard time doing it sometimes."

Greg's attention was then caught by two bright lights, one coming from Amethyst's chest, the other from Steven's belly. Garnet smiled approvingly.

The two figures melted together like they were made of wax, and Greg watched in awe as a giant, massive creature with dark skin and three arms appeared where his son and the Gem were standing moments ago.

"I did it!" Smoky Quartz shouted, raising their arms victoriously.

The fusion waved at their two spectators, then walked up to them with a grin.

"Steven was eager for us to meet, Greg. And I'm happy too! So, what's your first impression?"

Greg stood up with difficulty because of the heavy sweater and got his arm almost torn out by Smoky Quartz's vigorous handshake.

"Uh... nice to meet you." he replied, massaging is sore shoulder "It's weird, but I guess I'll get used to it."

"Glad to see you again," Garnet said, looking as thrilled as her fellow fusion "but you can't stay much longer: it's almost lunch time and I guess Steven and Amethyst would like to eat separately."

"Actually, they don't want to!" Smoky Quartz answered with enthusiasm in their voice "Amethyst wants to know how many pizzas I can eat! And Steven wants to know into who's stomachs they'll end up when I'll unfuse."

"I should have expected this from them. They love to make experiments, especially with food."

"Well let's order then. I'm starving!"

Smoky Quartz ran to the house, stepped cautiously on the stairs to not break them, then squeezed themselves through the door.

Still abashed by what he just saw, Greg stood silent for a few seconds, then pulled himself together. Realizing he didn't really want to see the fusion of his son and Amethyst devour pizza after pizza, he got an idea.

"Err, Garnet, I'd like to ask you..."

Garnet turned her head to him and motioned him to continue.

"Would... Would you like to grab lunch with me in town?"

The fusion didn't answer, and her opaque glasses were making her expression impossible to read.

"Oh, I know you don't eat that often..." Greg said nervously "but I think you'd like the Crab Shack! They also serve diet food... y'know, for me."

The glasses moved slightly, indicating Garnet was probably raising an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry Greg, but I'd rather stay here. Smoky Quartz is not very stable yet and I must be here to help Pearl if there's any trouble."

"Oh. Yeah, okay, I understand."

Disappointed, the man headed towards the house, the dreadful thought of attending to a pizza feast plaguing his mind.

* * *

Being forced to wear permanently a 20 pounds sweater made Greg's everyday life even harder than it already was: the additional energy expenditure was not compensated by larger meals and the horrible muscle aches were keeping him awake at night. The man was starting to wonder if the Gems really knew what they were doing and if this so-called "diet" wouldn't have bad consequences on his health.

After a few days while he tried to cooperate, hunger once again proved to be an implacable foe. But this time, Greg was out of ideas. He knew he couldn't order anything on the Internet: the mailman Jamie had probably been warned by the Gems not to put anything edible in the mailbox. He once thought he had found a solution by discovering the website of a small drone delivery company, but this attempt failed as well: as the drone carrying his order of cinnamon buns was flying above the ocean, Pearl spotted it and struck it down with a remarkably accurate spear throw. The device fell into the rough waves and Greg had to refund it to the company.

"There was food in my van before." he thought "But I'm sure the Gems threw everything away."

The man suddenly got an inspiration and his whole face brightened up. His van! Obviously no one in Beach City would help him, a little town where everyone knew each other, in which the news spread at the speed of sound would make any of his attempts a guaranteed failure. But nothing was stopping him from taking his van and travel to another city!

Overexcited, Greg ran out of the house, galvanized by an energy he never thought he could have, and reached his beloved vehicle. He opened the driver's door, pounced on the seat and turned the key.

The van didn't start.

"Oh, no, no, please! You can't fail me now!"

Greg jumped out of the van and lifted the hood in an almost raging gesture. Black smoke rose from the engine. Coughing heavily, he tried to figure out what was wrong, but the problem appeared to be beyond his own skills.

"I'm the luckiest man ever! Now who will I ask for help with this?"

Suddenly realizing something he straightened up abruptly, bashing his head into the hood's edge. While massaging his aching skull he thought for a moment: his van had a problem he couldn't repair by himself...what if it wasn't an accident? What if someone intentionally broke it?

At this thought, for the first time since he moved in at the Gems' place, Greg felt real anger. His fists clenched so hard his nails were digging into his hands' flesh. Someone had dared to sabotage the vehicle he cared about more than anything else so expertly that even him couldn't do anything.

He only knew one person able to achieve such a feat...

* * *

"PEAAAAAAAAAARL!"

Greg slammed the door open, stomped inside... then slipped on the wooden floor and fell loudly on the ground.

He darted his eyes everywhere in confusion. Steven and Amethyst were playing video games upstairs: they turned their heads to see what was happening and the man could see the hilarity on Amethyst's face as well as the concern on Steven's. Then his eyes turned to the kitchen and stopped on Pearl who was sitting at the counter, not even bothering to tear her own eyes away from the letter she was writing.

"Hello, Greg." she said in a neutral voice "Be cautious, I just cleaned the floor. It's slippery."

With Steven's help, who had rushed downstairs to help him, Greg got back on his feet.

"Why did you sabotage my van Pearl?" he asked angrily.

"Don't ask questions you already know the answer to." the Gem replied without stopping her writing.

"No one touches my van without asking me first! I'm not touching your Gem stuff as far as I'm concerned!"

Greg was not the only one who was upset ; Steven's look on his face was both annoyed and disappointed.

"Pearl, you really did this?" he asked with a plaintive voice "Dad was supposed to give me driving lessons!"

"Sorry Steven, but as long as your father doesn't show a minimum of self-control this van will stay in the same state as it is now."

Greg had to take several deep breaths and rely on the last bit of patience he had left not to reply something mean to her. He just kept his mouth shut, like he did too many times since he was living here. Despite that, Steven noticed his father's fists were still clenched and his face contorted with indignation. The boy grabbed his arm softly and looked up to him in a silent encouragement; when meeting his son's eyes, the man felt a rush of affection and warmth and his anger faded away slowly.

Pearl signed her letter and slipped it in an envelope. As he was coming closer Greg could read on its back: "Dr Priyanka Maheswaran".

"Why are you writing Doctor Maheswaran?" he asked.

"I'm just asking her for additional advice." Pearl explained "And also to send medical equipment."

"Huh? What kind of equipment?"

"Oh, just a few things to check up on you regularly. Blood pressure monitor, stethoscope, glucose meter...syringes..."

"SYRINGES?!"

All of the sudden the man grew dangerously pale.

"W-why would you need s-syringes?!" he stuttered.

"What kind of question is that, Greg? They're for taking your blood, of course!"

Amethyst got the hardest of times not to burst into laughter when she saw Greg's face going through all the colors of the rainbow, and even Steven barely kept a straight face.

"I... I think I n-need to sit..." the poor man said in a shaky voice, heading towards the couch.

"Don't be childish please!" Pearl retorted "Doctor Maheswaran asked for blood samples so she can check your cholesterol levels. It'll be easier if we do it at home instead of going to the hospital every time."

She got up and quickly left the house. It took Greg a full minute to regain his composure and, once he felt a little calmer, he walked out as well to join her. Going downstairs he spotted the Gem a little further, near the mailbox, and approached her meekly.

"Hey Pearl, I wanted to ask you..."

"If it's about your van, just know I won't reconsider. But don't worry, I'll repair it once I'll be sure you won't try anything ever again."

"No, it's not about my van...well yeah sure, I'd like to talk about it, but later. I wanted to tell you... tonight there's a play organized on the beach - I think Jamie wrote it. It's about Buddy Budwick's life, you know, William Dewey's first mate."

Pearl raised an eyebrow.

"So?" she asked.

"So, um... I don't think Garnet or Amethyst will be interested. And Steven told me he'll go to the movies with Connie tonight, so... I figured we could go see it together."

The Gem slowly closed the mailbox and lifted the flag, her expression both surprised and confused.

"Thank you for proposing, Greg" she said "but... to be fair, none of us told you yet... we have to go on a mission tonight. The three of us."

"Oh..."

"Sorry."

Without adding anything she passed him and returned to the house. The man watched her walk away with a frown.

* * *

Greg closed the first book of _Unfamiliar Familiar_ and sighed. His mind was so preoccupied he couldn't focus on his reading. The deep silence, only troubled by the rain falling on the roof, was making him uncomfortable.

The Gems were on their mission and his son was at the movies: he was totally alone. He usually didn't mind but tonight, loneliness felt heavy - just like this sweater he was still wearing. Realizing nobody was there to reproach him for not wearing it, he took it off and threw it on the ground where it landed with a loud noise.

Too many things were not right. He was thinking hunger would be the worst thing he could ever feel and he was utterly wrong. They were actually many other matters.

Steven who lost his power again because of him. The Gems who were treating him like a child and avoided him when he wanted to spend time with them. His van that he couldn't drive anymore. And most importantly, himself: he was unable to be assertive, all he ever did was lower his head and say yes to everything. But why? Why was it so difficult to protest? Why was he accepting all of that? And most of all, what could he do to make things better?

Greg looked at the Rose Quartz's portrait above the front door. Seeing his lover's magnificent, kind face soothed him a little.

"I'm sure you wouldn't want me to stay that way, Rose." he whispered "What can I do?"

His eyes were lost in the portrait's beautiful, pink curls, when he remembered a conversation he had had several days ago.

 _"But, now that I think about it... I bought one with a pink cover. Does it bother you?"_

 _"If it bothers me? From whom do you think Steven got his fascination for this color?"_

 _"Um... from his mother?"_

 _"Touché. But I love pink too!"_

Greg raised from the couch, rummaged through the wardrobe and picked up the pink diary Connie gave him. He managed to find a pen in one of his son's drawers and went back to sit and think.

 _Dear diary_ , he wrote.

It was so strange. He never kept a diary before, even during his adolescence: beside for song lyrics he was not much of a writer. Still, he put the effort into it, step by step, word after word, slow but steady.

Connie had mentioned the concept of "writing down your thoughts" and that's exactly what he did. First he just threw on paper anything going through his head but, after a few lines, the writing was more precise, general ideas appeared and the whole thing progressively became more understandable, in the same way Greg's mind was - progressively too - becoming clearer, lighter.

* * *

 **Dredd2012: Thanks a lot for your support!**

 **KimDWil71: Thanks! Not entirely sure yet, but I think they will! I really want to include them as secondary characters later, gotta make sure I'll do it well though.**

 **Master of the Boot: Words can't express how much I'm happy to read that. Being respectful of the characters personalities is something I work really hard on, and it's the most important aspect to me. Each character will be developed and explored a lot more through the story, I'm just getting started!**


	5. Resonance

**Hey, I'm back! Don't worry, I haven't given up on this story or its translation, just been enjoying the holidays... and also lost a bit of confidence in my writing skills which caused me to procrastinate. Sorry for the wait, I hope you like this chapter!**

* * *

 _"Dad! Dad! There's new stuff!"_

 _Greg raised his head, then got up from the velvet armchair._

 _"Really?"_

 _"Yeah, in the chest!" Steven replied with glee "There are more rock... ball... thingies!"_

 _The boy came out from behind the screen that was still displaying the same picture they seen during their second dream - the one with Greg on the beach - his arms loaded with stones similar to the one the marble hand was still holding._

 _"Wow, that's a bunch of 'em!" the man observed._

 _He could see them clearly under the screen's blue light as Steven was coming closer. Most of the stones were black like the first one, but some of them had different colors: Greg's eyes stopped on several bright pink stones glowing on their own, that irremediably reminded him of the quartz set in his son's belly._

 _"There's probably a picture in each of them" Steven said "Which one do you wanna see first?"_

 _"You really want me to decide?" Greg said in a hesitating tone._

 _"Sure! It's your dream!"_

 _"Uh, yes, but you are the one used to..."_

 _His son's laughter interrupted him._

 _"Dad, I'm asking you to make a simple choice, not to fight an acid-spitting dragon!" Steven remarked, his eyes narrowed in amusement. "And I'm as clueless as you are here so go ahead, pick one!"_

 _Steven noticed his father was staring intently at the pink stones, and he himself was curious to see what their color could mean, even though he had his own theory about it. That's why when he saw the man finally reach out to take a black stone he couldn't help but open his mouth slightly in surprise... and disappointment._

 _"See, it didn't bite you!" he assured, trying to hide his negative feelings behind a cheerful tone._

 _"You can never be too careful." Greg answered with a smile "And since you forced me to chose, just know that if that stone actually bit me, I would've grounded you from TV for a thousand years again!"_

 _"Ah, y'know, now that I discovered the wonderful world of books that threat as much less power on me. You'll have to try a little harder than that to scare me, old timer!"_

 _The boy stuck his tongue out mischievously._

 _"Is that a challenge?" Greg asked, faking a threatening voice._

 _"We're in a dream! You can't do anything to me!"_

 _"We shall see that! C'mere!"_

 _After putting the stone he picked safely on the closest chair, the man rushed towards his son and tickled his sides. Steven did his best to resist, his cheeks puffed from the contained hilarity and tears gleaming at the corner of his eyes, until he couldn't take it anymore and exploded in a howl of laughter, letting go of the other stones that fell around him, rolling and bouncing everywhere. He collapsed on the floor, vainly trying to protect himself with his arms and legs against his father's merciless tickle attacks._

 _"HAHAHA, alright, alright!" he articulated, his voice interspersed with laughs and hiccups "You won, dad! Now stop, HAHAHAHA, I'm gonna die!"_

 _Greg stopped and picked his son up before ruffling his hair affectionately._

 _"See?" he exclaimed "Your old man still got it!"_

 _"It doesn't count, we're in a dream!" Steven replied with false bravado._

 _"Still, I taught you a lesson... But now that you mention it, I admit this is quite nice to be able to carry you without having those backaches!"_

And I'm not hungry all the time, like when I'm awake _, he thought._

 _Steven immediately felt the change of atmosphere: his father's chest going up as he was letting out a sigh, his embrace loosening a little. The boy broke the hug and set foot on the ground, looking at him cautiously._

 _"Dad, is there something that makes you sad?" he asked._

 _Greg raised his eyebrows. His son did formulate a question, but the clairvoyance and seriousness in his eyes indicated it wasn't really one. It reminded him of the time when Garnet stated he had a problem instead of asking him, and as he was thinking about an answer, he also remembered what he wrote in his brand new diary._

 _"I should try to be more transparent about my feelings. I can't just let Steven worry about me all the time and wonder what's happening. The truth is harsh but I must find the courage to tell it, little by little."_

 _Those were his exact words, the words he wrote as a conclusion of long paragraphs about his son, the Gems, his diet, his own desires, and many other things. It was probably about time to make something out of this ideas, other than a waste of ink and paper._

 _"Things... Ain't exactly going the way I expected." he articulated slowly while looking away._

 _Steven scratched his chin._

 _"Are you talking about your diet? Or something else?" he asked._

 _"Both, I guess."_

 _"Hmmm..."_

 _Steven had no idea what to answer. He wasn't really surprised: he had noticed his father was looking down for a long time, and even if moving at his place allowed them to spend more time together, the boy knew something wasn't right. Notably, there were all the times he frowned at the Gems' behavior who had the unpleasant tendency to patronize and scorn Greg, but only now did he interrelate their cold and disdainful comments with his father's bad mood. The boy reprimanded himself for not realizing sooner that of course, cohabitation between beings who were different in every ways, including their species, could only generate miscommunication, and that as a human/Gem hybrid it was his job to be the intermediary._

 _"I think we should talk it out with the others when we're awake, dad." he finally said "If you have a problem you have to tell me and the Gems, and we'll do our best to help you."_

 _Seeing Greg's absence of response as well as the unconvinced and guilty expression on his face, Steven doubted once again. Maybe an open discussion wasn't actually the best idea: even if he didn't have future vision he could easily foresee the divergence of opinion and the differences between these four leading to a large-scaled argument - they could even say words that they would regret afterwards. Acting with more subtlety, on a longer period of time, would more likely be preferable to a single, big confrontation._

 _"...Or we can figure out what's wrong by ourselves. Maybe make a list."_

 _This time Greg nodded._

 _"I'm already doing this." He explained._

 _He then told his son about the diary Connie gifted him, with details on how he used it and how great he felt when writing in it._

 _"Connie always got the best gift ideas!" the boy stated proudly "It was when she gave me books that I realized I really loved reading. I think she understood how much I needed something else after being grounded from TV. I'm so glad to have her as a friend, she's always there when I..."_

 _He stopped. As his father was smiling to him, easily noticing how affectionate he sounded when talking about his best friend, Steven's cheeks turned pink for a moment._

 _"Well, whatever!" he exclaimed in a hurry "How about we forget about all this stuff for now? We have something to see, the reason why we're in this dream in the first place!"_

 _He walked up to the black stone Greg had chosen and put in the armchair moments ago, grabbed it and watched his step as he headed through the other stones on the ground towards the floating hand._

 _"Hey buddy, you're really gonna let all these things just lying there?" the man asked, maneuvering through the mess as well._

 _"I'm not cleaning up in a dream!" Steven answered with a chuckle "I don't even clean up my own room!"_

 _He removed the stone that was already in the hand. Once pulled out it turned from black to white and on its surface appeared a golden symbol: upon examining it, the boy realized it was the number 0. Keeping this change in a corner of his head, he placed the new stone in the marble palm. Once again the fingers clutched it tightly._

 _"Let's see..." he said as both of them sat comfortably on the armchairs._

 _The first picture disappeared in a flow of colors that reorganized after a few seconds to form something new, a dark scene where the high shapes of what looked like mountains could be distinguished._

 _"I think I found you!" Steven remarked._

 _He was pointing at a small humanoid figure in the down left corner of the picture, who seemed to watch the landscape in front of him. After a more meticulous observation, the boy noted that the 'mountains' were actually piles of garbage and various damaged objects that, compared to the tiny Greg on the photo, were looking abnormally big. There were mattress-sized books with torn pages, a cracked bowl so large an adult could have stood inside, moth-eaten clothes that could be used as tents and giant moldy donuts that even Amethyst couldn't eat all by herself. Greg quivered when he spotted a huge syringe at the top of one of the piles, its needle as thick as a sword pointing towards the sky. The whole scenery looked like a junkyard cursed with a dark, twisted magic spell._

 _"That is... surprising." Steven whispered._

 _"No, not really." His father answered, shaking his head._

 _"What do you mean?"_

 _"Dreams are often made of things we experienced before, son. And from what I see these objects are related to things that happened to me in the last few days. The books, for instance... since I started to live with you and the Gems I read books to pass time when you guys are not there. I think this bowl is the one you ate these macaroni cheese in, the first night... wasn't a very pleasant evening for me. The clothes remind me of that sweater Garnet gave me, and Pearl mentioned syringes yesterday (oh by the way, did I ever tell you I was like, REALLY scared of needles?). As for the donuts..."_

 _He stopped. Steven still didn't know he secretly went to the Big Donut, and he preferred not to tell him for the moment. Luckily, the boy didn't notice this hesitation - unless he was deliberately ignoring it._

 _"So all of this stuff is related to a moment when you felt something?" Steven asked after thinking for a few seconds. "You read because you're bored, syringes scare you, the mac and cheese dish frustrated you because you couldn't have it... actually it reminds me of... me!"_

 _As Greg was staring at him incredulously, he continued:_

 _"My powers are linked to my emotions as well. When I'm angry or sad I have a hard time using them. If all of this means that your head is as messy as this picture is, maybe we should... clean things up?"_

 _"That's deep, buddy. But we sorta talked about that earlier already."_

 _"True. We'll have to dig a little deeper. So, how about we watch another one?"_

 _"Huh? Another what?"_

 _Steven jumped from the chair and gestured at the stones on the ground. Greg's eyes widened a bit._

 _"But we didn't even solved the mystery of the first one." he observed with a perplexed look on his face._

 _"We can use our awake time to figure those things out." Steven explained as he was gathering several stones of various colors. "But we're in this place for a limited time. We have to make the most of it and watch as many pictures as we can! Come on dad, choose another one!"_

 _He presented his full hands to his father. He had deliberately taken a good amount of pink stones... that's why he frowned when the man grabbed another black stone._

 _"Dad..." Steven said with a slightly annoyed tone._

 _Both of them exchanged a meaningful look. Greg winced a little._

 _"Yeah, I know." he answered sheepishly, looking down "But I don't want to pick one of these."_

 _"But why? Aren't you curious to see what they're about?"_

 _"Not really. To be honest... I'm scared, son. I'm scared they could be related to..."_

 _"To Mom."_

 _Greg froze. This time, his son's last words were a statement, not a question. Steven walked slowly to the chairs, sat on one of them and pressed the stones he was holding against his chest._

 _"You know, when I realize I'm dreaming I always think about her." the boy admitted "The Gems told me she'll always be a part of me. They told me that sometimes I'll be able to feel what she feels. I don't know if it already happened without me noticing, I don't know if I'll ever notice it. And since I can enter people's mind in my dreams, since I can talk to them... After all I did talk to the Cluster, and it wasn't even a full Gem... Well sometimes I wonder 'what if she's trying to send me a message? What if I can actually talk to her in my dreams?'. So I always pay attention. I listen, I look for signs of her, I call out to her... Doesn't matter if I scream, doesn't matter if I cry... She never responds."_

 _Greg sat on the other armchair. His son's eyes were gleaming and his shoulders were shaking, but his face was showing an impressive determination._

 _"Steven..."_

 _"That's why I don't understand, dad... If **you** get the chance to communicate with her, why not seize it? Why don't you want to know?"_

 _The man let out a deep sigh and his hands gripped the armrests tightly._

 _"Maybe because I regret nothing." he said, looking straight ahead "I miss your mom everyday, and I understand you want to know her more, but... as far as I'm concerned I enjoyed all these years with her to the fullest. I want to remember what she actually told me, not interpret signs wondering if they're coming from her or not."_

 _Greg turned his head to his son, a kind smile on his face._

 _"But if it's that important to you, which I can totally understand... after all, you have the right to know more about your mother... then I choose this one."_

 _He reached out to take one of the pink stones Steven was holding to his chest, then stood up and approached the marble hand. The black rock laying inside changed color when he removed it but instead of turning white like the first one, it turned gray and a golden number "1" appeared at its surface. Without paying attention to this difference Greg placed the pink stone and went back to sit beside his son. Once again, the picture of the huge junkyard disappeared in a whirl of bright colors._

 _"Are you sure you want to do this dad?" Steven asked, his face growing pale._

 _"Certain." his father replied, watching the screen reveal a long beach of white sand._

* * *

 _"Greg, there's another one!"_

 _"Really? Where?"_

 _"At the giant rock, right next to that empty can of soda."_

 _"Oh, yeah, I see it now!"_

 _Rose ran joyfully, her powers making her soar with every step. Greg couldn't help but admire the way her white dress and pink hair were floating in the wind, but a chill was still running down his spine. He hurried to catch up with his lover at the foot of the rock ; she was leaning forward, contemplating the lovely seashell she had spotted from afar._

 _"Honey, are you sure it's safe for you to run around like that?" Greg asked shyly, staring at Rose's round belly. "And... to lean as well?"_

 _"We're okay, Greg, don't worry about us." she answered with an amused smile._

 _"I... I'm not worrying."_

 _But the way he was biting his lower lip proved otherwise. Rose just pretended not to notice it._

 _"Look at this one!" she said, pointing at the seashell at her feet with a thrilled expression. "It's beautiful! I think it's the biggest I've ever seen so far. What species is it?"_

 _"Uh, gimme a second."_

 _The man opened the book he was holding and quickly browsed through the pages._

 _"Let's see... I believe it's... yeah, that's it: it's a_ Lobatus gigas _, see? There are the same spiky things on the picture. Also known as Queen Conch."_

 _"Queen Conch." Rose repeated in a delighted tone, like she was pronouncing the name of a refined dish. "Fascinating! I wish I could see what the animal inside looks like. But this one seems empty."_

 _She picked it up and was about to put it in the basket she had under her arm when her partner stopped her._

 _"Wait, I'd like to show you a cool trick you can do with it."_

 _"Oh, Alright!"_

 _Both of them sat down on the sand. Congratulating himself for finding something to distract Rose from running and bouncing on the beach, Greg let out a discreet huff of relief._

 _"When you put a shell like this one to your ear, you'll hear the ocean" he explained._

 _"Really? I want to try!"_

 _Rose promptly pressed the shell against her cheek. Greg chuckled._

 _"No Rose, you have to put the **hole** against your hear!"_

 _"Oh, I see. Like this?"_

 _"Yes."_

 _Rose waited for a few seconds._

 _"I don't hear anything."_

 _"You don't?"_

 _Surprised, Greg took the seashell and placed it against his own hear. The roar of the waves was perfectly audible._

 _"Weird, I can hear it." he said "Maybe it doesn't work with Gems."_

 _"Humans are really lucky if they can hear the ocean's song even when they're far away from it."_

 _"Er... yeah I guess."_

 _Rose smiled, then took the shell back from her lover._

 _"Maybe he wants to hear it to." she murmured, placing the queen conch on her belly."_

 _Greg looked at her tenderly. He doubted that the baby could hear anything, but seeing her doing this was warming his heart._

 _Both of them just relaxed for several minutes, not exchanging a word, appreciating the caress of the wind on their faces, the warm sand between their toes, and the view of the waves rolling onto the shore. Roses's eyes were closed as she was inhaling the sea air, her chest moving up and down in a regular rhythm._ _The man remembered what she once told him: despite the Gems not needing oxygen to survive, living among humans for centuries taught Rose about the benefits of breathing, how useful it was to relax, focus, or just appreciate a pleasant scent. Greg's heart sank when he thought that this was probably one of the last times they would sit on the beach side by side, but quickly forced himself to drive away this thought: he had to enjoy every minute, every second, to his fullest. It wasn't time to be sad. Not yet._

 _Suddenly, a strange and subtle sound filled the air: a soft, melodious whistle the likes of which he has never heard before._

 _"What's that?" he asked with a mix of curiosity and concern._

 _Rose pulled the seashell away from her belly: the whistle stopped, and started again when she put it back._

 _"I've never heard any seashell do that kind of noise." Greg said gulping._

 _"It's not the shell" Rose replied softly "It's me."_

 _"It's you?"_

 _She put the queen conch on the sand and reached out to take his face between her hands. Greg expected her to pull him to her for a kiss but instead she gently made him lean forward, towards her stomach. The man followed the movement until he felt the cold, hard gemstone adorning his lover's navel against his ear, then listened carefully. After a few seconds he heard the sound again, very faint but still pleasant and musical._

 _"I can't believe I'm just discovering it! What on Earth is that?" he asked._

 _" 'That' is called telluric resonance." Rose explained with a smile "On my world we also call it Gemsong. It's not very easy to hear most of the time, I believe it resonated in the shell while it was on my stomach, and that's why you were able to hear it."_

 _"Wait a minute... every Gem has that?"_

 _"Yes, but the sound is different for every type of Gem. For example, every Rose Quartz has the same sound as me, subtle differences aside."_

 _"How subtle?"_

 _"Too subtle for a human ear to perceive."_

 _Greg frowned a bit at this answer, but kept listening to the otherworldly whistle._

 _"It's really beautiful" he whispered. "That could do well as a background for a song, though I don't think there's any mic powerful enough to record this... HEY!"_

 _The man straightened up all of the sudden: he just felt a slight bump on his cheek. Rose looked at his questioningly._

 _"The... the baby kicked me!" he exclaimed._

 _His face was faking outrage but his laughing eyes were betraying his joy. The Gem laughed heartily._

 _"I bet he just wanted to say hi." she answered, caressing her belly "Oh, I'm so impatient! I just can't wait for him to take his first steps into this world."_

 _"Or her." Greg added, putting his own hand on his partner's "But it doesn't matter to me if it's a boy or a girl: I just want them to become a rockstar like their dad!"_

 _"And all I want is for them to be a good person. I want them to be compassionate, caring. I want them to love Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl... and you."_

 _Greg felt like he just got stabbed in the heart. He knew Rose didn't put herself in the list on purpose. He knew what was going to happen the day his son would be born. He knew he had to take care of the baby alone, maybe with the help of the other Gems (if they actually accepted to assist him). What he didn't know however was if it was really worth it. Was it selfish of him to ask himself that question?_

 _"Greg..."_

 _Tightening his grip on Rose's hand, the man forced himself to meet her eyes and smile. He looked at her intently for several minutes, as if he wanted to sate his own eyes with the sight of her beautiful face for the years to come. But he knew it was vain. How much time would pass before he would forget the sound of her voice? Her perfume? The taste of her lips? The sensation of her pink curls between his fingers?_

 _"Greg, I know that you're..."_

 _"Don't worry, Rose, he said in a voice that was not shaking. I'll do everything I can to make them a good person. I'll be the coolest dad in the cosmos!"  
_

 _Rose smiled and changed position to be on her knees before him._

 _"I know you will." she murmured._

 _"I'll... I'll sing and play guitar for them." he continued as tears were starting to gleam in his eyes._

 _"Certainly."_

 _"I'll teach them everything I know about the Earth... I'll show them how wonderful this planet is..."_

 _"Without a doubt."_

 _"I'll... I'll love them, Rose. I'll take care of them. I promise..."_

 _Unable to contain them much longer, he let the tears flow on his cheeks and into his beard. He lowered his head, his body shaking from the silent sobs, but Rose once again grabbed his face and this time, actually pulled him in for a kiss. Greg tried to enjoy every second of it but his lover's lips left his too quickly to his liking. He rested his forehead against hers, his head spinning, a knot in his stomach as Rose's whisper resonated inside him like an echo._

 _"Greg, don't forget to take care of yourself as well."_

* * *

Steven suddenly opened his eyes. Nothing disturbed him, he wasn't particularly well rested but still there he was, perfectly awake, as if he has just been kicked out of his sleep. He took a quick look around: an indigo light, characteristic of the few hours preceding dawn, was filtering through the shut windows.

It hasn't been a picture this time. The pink stone contained a video. A memory.

The boy heard a quiet sniffle downstairs. Still shocked by what he has just seen, he pushed away his blanket and despite his urge to return to the comforting warmth of his bed and go back to sleep, forced himself to set foot on the cold wooden floor and get up. Then he walked downstairs yawning: his father was awake too, sitting on the edge of his makeshift bed, a blank expression on his face and his eyes slightly moist.

"Rose..."

"Dad, I'm so sorry," Steven whispered taking a few cautious steps towards him "I shouldn't have insisted on seeing that thing. It was exactly what you didn't want to see."

Greg wiped his eyes and looked at his son.

"It's okay buddy" he said with a weak smile "You couldn't know. And it was actually... quite nice to see that again."

He patted the mattress beside him to invite Steven to sit. The boy complied, then wrapped his arms around his bent knees.

"The other pictures we saw were random," he observed "but this scene on the beach really happened, right? It was a memory of you and mom?"

"Yes, it was... I had completely forgotten about this telluric resonance thing..."

The man's eyes were full of tenderness. He then put a hand on his son's arm.

"It shook you up quite a bit too, didn't it?"

"Yeah, a little." Steven admitted, turning his head towards his mother's portrait above the front door.

"That's understandable. This is the first time you actually see her. The first time you hear her voice."

The boy frowned and got up all of the sudden.

"No, it's not the first time." he said.

He quickly went upstairs, rummaged through his room's drawers and came back with a video tape he handed to his father. Taking a closer look, Greg noticed a label 'For Steven' on the side, and his jaw dropped in stupefaction.

"Oh boy... I'd never thought I'd see this again." he murmured.

A lot of questions were piling up in his head. How did his son get this video tape? Why didn't he tell him about it earlier? Were the Gems aware of its existence? However, Greg didn't ask any of them.

"Dad, once again I'm sorry." Steven said. I shouldn't have forced you to see these pink stones when you didn't want to."

"You apologize too much, son. We both agreed to see what this dream was all about, remember?"

Greg stretched as much as he could and the boy shivered when he heard his father's joints crack.

"Anyway, I don't think I'll be able to go back to sleep after all this." the man said, scratching his head.

"I could have a few minutes ago, but now I don't really want to." Steven admitted "Hey, I have an idea! I'll do what the Gems always do to comfort me when I have a nightmare!"

"Which is?"

"You'll see! Close your eyes!"

Amused, Greg obeyed, then heard his son getting up and heading towards the kitchen. He then recognized the noise of cupboards getting opened and closed, ceramic objects bumping into each other, and the whirring of the microwave. After a few minutes, Steven asked his father to open his eyes and as he did, he saw two cups of steaming hot cocoa on the counter, each of them topped with a little mountain of whipped cream sprinkled with tiny marshmallows.

"Tada!" Steven exclaimed happily, gesturing towards the cups.

"Uh, Steven, you know I can't have sugary drinks." Greg remarked.

"We can make a little exception every once in a while. And this time you have my blessing... unlike the time you went to the Big Donut!"

The man's eyes widened and he felt his ears burning a little.

"H-how do you know that?!" he stammered.

"You really think Sadie wasn't going to tell me?" Steven asked in a mischievous tone. "But don't worry, I'm not mad at you: I know she wouldn't have sold you anything. Come on, let's drink this before it gets cold!"

Slightly ashamed, Greg sat on one of the bar's stools and put his hands around the cup to feel its pleasant warmth; the fireplace had run out of fuel for a long time and the whole house was a bit cold. Steven sat as well and dipped his nose in the cup gluttonously.

The man, on the other hand, took his time: lately all he had in mind was getting the tiniest bit, the tiniest piece of candy to sate his painful hunger, and normally he would have guzzled the whole drink just like his son did, but seeing this memory with Rose shook him up so much that he forgot about his stomach for a while. He listened to the silence that was only troubled by Steven sipping his cocoa: the atmosphere was strangely peaceful, the darkness and the cold air as the morning was drawing near were making this moment unique and singular, like it was frozen in time. Greg realized he wanted this to last as long as possible, and that's why he waited, thinking about his lover's words and the happy days they spent together, until the enticing smell of the hot cocoa was to hard to resist any longer. After all this waiting, the first sip was even more divine than everything he ever dreamed of during his fasting: the rich, sweet taste numbed his disaccustomed tongue, and chills of pleasure ran through his body as the hot drink descended into his empty stomach.

"Wow..." he whispered.

Steven raised his head and gave his father a questioning look, a chocolate mustache under his nose.

"It's incredible how much more you enjoy things when you couldn't have them before." the man explained, eating a spoonful of whipped cream and marshmallows.

He let the sugary bit melt in his mouth before continuing:

"For example, drinking hot chocolate is normal for you. For me though, it's an experience... Maybe that's another advantage of going on a diet... aside from getting healthier, I mean."

"If drinking or eating ordinary things become an experience, maybe I should go on a diet too!" Steven answered.

It wasn't even sarcastic: he had a fascinated look on his face. Greg shook his head with a smile.

"Nah, believe me, it's not worth it at all!" he stated.

Joy disappeared from the boy's face. His father immediately regretted saying those words.

"Hey, It's alright, buddy!" he said with a less spontaneous smile "It's not as harsh as it looks!"

"I don't like seeing you suffer, dad." Steven replied, clenching his fists.

"Steven, I assure you, I'm fine! Yeah of course, it's not easy being hungry, but I've been told your stomach shrink when you eat less, so I guess I'll feel better in a few weeks."

"But it's not just that! I know it, I saw it! It's... the..."

Steven was all tense on his stool, droplets of sweat running down his temples. It seemed like he was trying to stay calm as a venomous scorpion was skittering under his shirt. Suddenly, he exploded:

"The... The Gems are mean to you!"

Another silence fell in the house, but it wasn't peaceful and gentle like the first one: this one was heavy and awkward. Greg kept his eyes on his half empty cup.

"They're trying to help me." he simply said.

"But they're doing it wrong!" Steven insisted, frowning.

"You can't really blame them for that. It's hard for them to understand... All they see is that I had an accident and they have to do everything they can to prevent me from having another."

Steven was convinced this wasn't the only problem, that there was something else far more concerning, but he was unable to decipher his father's expression right now. He decided not to insist: that was enough emotions for the night. Still, despite the atmosphere turning relaxed and pleasant again (the awkward moments between the two never lasted for too long), the boy's brain was boiling: he was trying to mentally put together the pieces of the complicated puzzle that was the actual situation, deducing his future plan of attack. If he really had to be a mediator, he would have to proceed with caution and discernment.

As he took his stool closer to his father's so the man could wrap his arm around his shoulders and keep him warm, Steven smiled on the inside.

He knew where to begin.

* * *

 **Master of the Boot & Cartoonicaddic2: Thank you for sharing your thoughts and your own experience as well! As for me, I never had to go on a diet before so I had a hard time figuring out how that feels, I'm glad to know it sounds realistic for someone who actually experienced it. And I'm also happy to know it resonated with you, I hope I can keep this up for you guys!**

 **He Who Seeks The Joy in Life: Thanks for your compliments, but please no forgetti ):**

 **KimDWil71: Thank you, I hope you'll like this one as well!**


	6. Clean-up

**Yay, I'm back! Sorry about the time it took. But here we go, sixth chapter! It's happening at the same time as the events of the episode _Mindful Education_. I hope you'll enjoy it!**

* * *

Suddenly, they heard a faint rumble. Around them the ground started to shake, slightly at first, then harder and harder. Boulders tumbled down the steep slopes, ripping out the few, desiccated plants that had managed to grow on this hostile land. Soon large fissures spread out on the mountain's sides, producing a loud, terrifying cracking noise.

"The volcano! It's awakening!" Archimicarus yelled.

Lisa raised her eyes towards the peak in panic. Her companion was right: at the top, the dark clouds rising and the golden glow from the pouring lava were announcing the imminent eruption. The constant shaking made her lose her balance and she fell on her knees, wounding her hands on the rough rocks.

But the young girl wasn't discouraged. She hardly got up then kept climbing, her eyes still focused on the summit, her hand gripping her sword tightly, as if she thought she could just hold on to it if she was to trip once more.

"Lisa, it's too dangerous!" Archimicarus screamed "We have to leave now!"

The falcon described a large arc in the air to get in front of his friend, blocking her path. Lisa could read the concern in his golden eyes. Sometimes, she could see something vaguely human in the way he was looking at her.

"I can't go back, Archimicarus." she said in a determined tone "If I let that dragon escape, we'll lose the Sighing Stone forever! It cannot fall into the wrong hands!"

She went around the bird of prey and climbed again, even though her aching lungs, filled with volcanic ashes, were begging her to stop.

At last, she reached the top of the mountain. In the bubbling crater, bathing in lava like it was just a pleasant, warm bath, the dragon was there...

* * *

Steven stopped reading. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked up from the book, his hand clenching his stomach in an attempt to contain the nausea he was feeling.

"Why did you stop?" Amethyst asked, shoving an index into her right nostril "Just as the epic fight was coming!"

"It's... it's the smell of your food. It's making me sick!"

The Gem stared at the boy: his face was slightly green. She then lowered her eyes at the bowl of spaghetti and meatballs she was holding.

"Oh, should've said so!" she exclaimed nonchalantly "I'm on it."

She threw her head back, opened her mouth wider than it was humanly possible, then emptied the bowl in it.

"Ish that better?" she articulated, her cheeks full of food.

"Yeah, thanks. Sorry about that. I don't really love the smell of marinara in the morning."

"That'sh becaushe your shtomach ish empty! I didn't shee you eat breakfasht, thish morning!"

She finished masticating her spaghetti and swallowed everything at once.

"You're right, I didn't have one." Steven responded, lowering his head "I wasn't hungry."

"You don't usually skip breakfast." she remarked, putting the greasy bowl alongside her, in the sand "Something wrong?"

"No, no, I'm fine."

Amethyst scratched her head. Even if she didn't look the part, she was clairvoyant enough to see when Steven wasn't doing well. And since they fused into Smoky Quartz together and shared their mutual insecurities, she was a bit more comfortable than before when it came to talk about sensitive subjects with him.

"You know you can tell me, right?" she asked "I won't laugh at you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." the boy assured "But I'm fine, I promise."

"'Kay then."

Reassured, Amethyst wiped her mouth stained with tomato sauce and lied down on the warm sand, her hands crossed behind her neck, her long hair spread around her head.

Steven wasn't totally honest: without showing it, he was thinking about numerous things. His father's situation, obviously, was worrying him a little, but now that he had decided to take care of the problem and knew everything would get better (how could it go differently, after all?) it wasn't his major concern anymore; other thoughts, more harmful, more upsetting were plaguing his mind. Despite his attempts to ignore them, they were still there, in the form of faces with accusing eyes, always the same faces, always asking the same questions.

Amethyst had good intentions but would probably never understand. That's why Steven hid his reflections behind a smile and turned a page on his book.

"Let's go back to our fascinating read." he said in a perfectly convincing joyful tone "We have to finish our W.G.B.C. session!"

"Our what session?"

"Worst Gems Book Club!" the boy proudly announced.

The Gem chuckled.

"Ha! I can't believe you gave a name to, uh... that thing we do!"

Through hearing Connie and Steven talk about their favorite book saga, Unfamiliar Familiar, Amethyst grew curious about fantasy stories. But liking stories doesn't mean liking books and, indeed, she found the mere thought of opening a book to be incredibly boring. So, to allow his friend to discover any story she wanted without having to turn pages, Steven offered to read to her, and after a while, it became their very own moment (though Connie was sometimes participating when she was there). During the winter, when the wrestling tournaments were less frequent, Steven and Amethyst were often found sitting in the living room, inside a pillow fort built by the fireplace and with a large stock of marshmallows, reading together. Most of the time, after a chapter, they would talk about the story and make predictions about what would happen next (Steven, who had already read the whole saga, always made sure not to reveal anything) but sometimes they would also both fall asleep into each other's arms, and neither Pearl nor Garnet would dare to wake them up. Now that spring was around the corner they could do the same activity outside and it turned out that reading on the beach, with the ocean's noise in the background, was just as enjoyable as pillow forts.

"Hey, looks like it's the end of the chapter!" Steven commented after taking a peek at the book.

"Already?" Amethyst complained, sitting up all of the sudden "Well read the next one then, I wanna know how she's going to wreck that dragon!"

"I can't start a new chapter, Connie will be here very soon. We're having our first training session with Stevonnie today!"

"Oh, that sucks... not your training." she quickly added to the boy's offended look "Us having to stop."

"Don't worry, we can keep reading right after that. For now we have just the time to talk about the chapter before she arrives... so, what did you think of it? Is there something you want to say?"

Amethyst eyes became strangely shifty: she pouted and let out an exasperated grumble.

"You know you can tell me, right? I won't laugh at you!" Steven said mischievously, repeating his friend's exact same words.

"Don't disrespect me, you little brat!" the Gem answered in a fake menacing voice.

She sighed, then mumbled inaudible words.

"Err, what?" Steven asked, putting his hand behind his ear in an attempt to hear her better.

"I said" she said again louder "that there's something I didn't understand."

Steven burst into laughter. Amethyst's face became contorted with indignation and she scowled at him.

"Hey! You said you wouldn't laugh at me!"

"I'm... I'm not laughing at you, I swear!" the boy exclaimed, giggling "It's just... it's okay to not understand! You don't have to be ashamed!"

"Yeah, right..." she muttered, burying her finger into the sand, looking away.

"There's millions of things I don't understand, all the time! Don't be afraid to ask questions! What did you not understand in this chapter?"

Amethyst hesitated for a few seconds, but seeing Steven encouraging look, she started:

"It's... that weird lake thing where Lisa sees stuff. I don't get how it works."

"Ah, you mean the Pond of Shiwes? Yeah, it took me a little while too."

Steven closed the book and put it beside him.

"At first I thought it was showing the future" he explained, sitting more comfortably on the beach "Because when she was looking in it, she was seeing herself as an elite sorceress holding the Sighing Stone. But it wasn't making sense, since the reflection was also showing her father beside her, despite him dying in the previous book... but then I understood: the pond shows what the person looking at their reflection wants the most. Lisa wanted to become a great sorceress, take back the Sighing Stone, and be reunited with her father. By the way, the name of the pond is actually a hint: Shiwes is an anagram for wishes! She was just seeing what she was wishing for!"

Amethyst stared at him with widened eyes, her mouth slightly gaping. The boy interpreted it as a confused look.

"An anagram" he thus added "is when you mix all the letters of one word to form another word."

"I know that!" she exclaimed, on the defensive.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know at first, Connie explained it to me."

The gem frowned a bit, but the words from Steven were actually effective in driving her shame away. It was a remarkable talent he had, being able to find the right words to appease others. And he was capable of doing that with each of the Crystal Gems, even though their personalities were very different.

"There's something else I'd like to say" Amethyst said after a moment "Sort of a... theory."

"Ooooo, I love making theories!" Steven answered "Once I posted one on the Internet about Crying Breakfast Friends... But Ronaldo told me it was impossible that Weeping Eggcup and Tearful Spoon would come from the same dish set. Go ahead, tell me about your theory!"

"Well," she continued with a smirk "is that me or...don'tcha think... that bird, like... has a total crush on Lisa?"

Steven contained an urge to giggle as much as he could: he couldn't possibly reveal the end of the story before Amethyst could discover it, but the fact she was emitting the same hypothesis he had had when he was at the same moment in the books was amusing.

"What makes you say that?" he asked, making his tone as neutral as possible.

"Tons of things! He's always worrying about her, he's sad when he has to go on missions without her... Also if you're right about that pond thingy, when he was looking inside he was seeing himself as a human beside her! That's kinda obvious, don't you think?"

"Uuuuuuuh maaaaaaaaybe?" the boy said slowly, acting skeptical.

"Whatever, I'll find out by myself anyway. No spoilers!"

"Not even on my deathbed! Come on, we should go back inside now. Connie will be there soon."

Steven and Amethyst got up, picked up the book and the empty bowl respectively, and headed towards the house.

"Hey Steven, I just got an idea, Amethyst declared with a mischievous smile. Remember that hat we bought at the prank store last week?"

"You mean the bald cap?"

"Right, forgot the name of that thing. You should try it out with her when she arrives!"

* * *

Greg was used to artist's block: it could always happen, even without any reason, and usually he just had to wait a few days for the magic (as he liked to call it) to reappear. But never before he moved in with the Crystal Gems he had been this uninspired: he could spend a couple hours sitting on the couch, his guitar on his knees, without being able to produce a single appealing melody. To his ears every single note sounded discordant, and each time his son was asking for a song, he would just play old compositions, for lack of anything better. Steven never expressed his disappointment about it, but it was clearly visible in his eyes whenever he heard these far too familiar songs. Unfortunately, that wasn't helping Greg's inspiration at all: on the contrary, he was more and more discouraged.

Sighing, the man crossed out his fifth attempt at a beginning of a score on a notebook when he heard the house's door opening: Steven and Amethyst entered chuckling to themselves, then after their eyes crossed his Greg saw his son give the Gem a slight nudge before rushing upstairs to search something inside his room's drawers.

"Hey G-man, what's cooking?" Amethyst asked sitting on the couch's edge.

"A whole lot of nothing." Greg answered with a joyless laugh before setting his guitar aside. "Can't get the smallest ballad out of this."

He stared sadly at the instrument for a brief moment, but quickly hid his bitterness and, when he turned to the Gem, his expression was a lot more neutral, with a genuine interested look.

"So, I've been told Pearl and Garnet were going to train Stevonnie today." he said.

He had seen the fusion between Connie and his son only once, for a few seconds. Once the initial shock had worn off, he had realized that the mere idea of Stevonnie's existence was filling him up with content, without knowing exactly why.

"Yup." Amethyst confirmed.

She raised her eyes towards Steven, who was still rummaging through his drawers, then continued:

"But I... don't have the time... to watch their training. I've got an important thing to do... And speaking of which, I was wondering if you could give me a hand."

Greg would probably have jumped in surprise if the heavy sweater he was always wearing wasn't weighing him down.

"Me?" he asked, uncertain of what he heard "Why?"

"I need to reorganize my room" she replied "Kind of a spring cleaning... without the cleaning part."

"And, uh, can't you ask Pearl for help?"

Greg realized immediately how stupid his question was. Amethyst just groaned in disdain.

"Pearl doesn't just reorganize, she put things in **order.** " she explained, shivering in disgust as if the last word she pronounced was forbidden. "And also I'm asking you because if you remember well, your junk's still in my room!"

The man indeed remembered the last time he had to tidy up his storage unit that, at the time, was full to bursting: with only a few exceptions, all of his belongings (which he would never part with despite their obvious uselessness) ended up in Amethyst's room.

"Wait a sec." he suddenly said with concern "Your room... you mean your room in the Temple? The Sacred Temple of the Crystal Gems where a human being is guaranteed to die in horrible pain?"

"Yeah, that's the one!" The Gem confirmed with a grin.

"Oh, jeez Louise..."

Greg gulped nervously. He had never been in the Gem Temple before, except for a few visits in Rose's room years ago: Rose had told him over and over again how dangerous the place was for humans, and that even in her room he'd better stay close to her, without touching anything, and preferably without saying a word either.

"Don't sweat it, nothing can happen to you in my room!" Amethyst assured, giving him a vigorous slap in the back "Well, actually you'll have to be careful of all those giant axes we brought back from the Gem battlefield. Oh, and also there's the Slinker, a huge murdery monster that lurks in the Temple that we didn't catch yet. But hopefully we won't run into it!"

Greg wondered if she was just messing with him, but his thoughts were interrupted by a triumphant exclamation from Steven.

"Found it!"

Sitting on his bed, he was proudly holding a flesh-colored plastic hat that he put on his head before carefully hiding all his hair inside.

"He's gonna pull a prank on Connie, I gave him the idea." Amethyst explained with pride "So, you're in? Maybe there's some stuff you'd like to have back."

Despite some suspicions he promised himself to sort out later, the man figured it was still better than being alone again.

"Okay." he finally said "As long as it's not too hard..."

"Awesome!"

She grabbed him by a wrist and pulled firmly to help him get on his feet. Greg couldn't help but be surprised by her strength, even though he knew he didn't have to be.

"Yo Steven!" The Gem exclaimed raising her head to the bedroom "I'm borrowing your dad for a while! You'll tell me how Connie reacted, allright?"

"Okay!" The boy answered with enthusiasm.

The purple gemstone on Amethyst's chest lighted up and the Temple door opened in a strange way, like it was alive.

"Wait, Amethyst!" Steven called out, a slightly upset look on his face "You're not wishing me good luck for my training?"

The Gem turned towards him and looked at him with a smile.

"Nah..." she replied.

The boy was looking even more upset, but then she winked at him.

"...because a champ like you don't need any luck! I know you're gonna kill it!"

His cheeks slightly pink, Steven waved at her as she was disappearing through the door, pulling his father behind her by the wrist.

* * *

Greg had never seen anything like this before. In awe, he looked at the immense purple cavern with high ceiling that contained what looked like a massive junkyard: there were huge piles of all kinds of objects as far as the eye can see. The sight was almost identical to the picture he had seen in his dream, except there wasn't that dark, unsettling atmosphere and the few lakes, waterfalls and blue crystal pillars here and there were making the place strangely warm and welcoming. After contemplating this incredible scenery, he hurried to follow Amethyst who seemed to know perfectly where to go in this labyrinth. The Gem quickly noticed how hard it was for the man to keep up.

"You can remove that." she said nonchalantly, pointing at the red sweater he was wearing. I won't tell Garnet."

She didn't have to tell him twice: Greg took off the heavy sweater and, for a few seconds, thought it would be easy to pretend he lost it in such a place. But being dishonest wasn't in his nature, and he was almost sure Garnet would just make him another one, an even heavier one at that ; thus he put it in a clear space, where he was sure to find it on his way back. As he was straightening up, enjoying his recovered liberty of movement, he suddenly realized something: that was the first act of compassion Amethyst ever showed to him since he lived here. This thought was even greater than the sensation of the removed weight.

"Thanks." he said hoarsely.

"No problem." Amethyst replied without looking at him, which was a good thing because she probably would've made fun of him if she noticed his eyes were slightly moist.

"So, what's so important to do here that you can't be at Steven's training session?" he asked.

The Gem stopped, and let out a sigh.

"Nothing." she admitted, kicking away an empty can with an embarrassed look on her face. "It was an excuse... I don't like to watch Steven train. It's just boring. But I didn't want to make him feel bad, you see? I know it's lame..."

"Caring about how Steven feels isn't lame at all." Greg contested with a smile.

"Yeah, but I don't want to lie to him. I know it's important to him and all but I can't help it, to see him kick Holo-Pearl butts for hours bores me to death! I guess it could be fun if it was the real Pearl instead..."

She looked around then, after choosing a new direction, kept walking with Greg still following her.

"But I can't tell him the truth either" she continued "he'd be sad, you know how sensitive he can be... kinda like you, actually. Ah, there we are! Check this out!"

Greg peered in the direction she was indicating and saw a pile a lot smaller than the others, that was still quite impressive in size. As he was getting closer, he recognized the objects in it.

"That's my stuff!" he exclaimed in an enthusiastic tone.

"Yeah, I put everything together. And see? I added a little something to remind myself it's yours."

The man realized she was pointing at... himself. Or rather at the big cardboard effigy he had had printed more than a year ago as an advertisement for his car-wash's summer wax. With nostalgia he examined the cardboard Greg, who was dressed in summer clothes and displaying a wide grin, when he noticed the black marker scribbling on the face: he was now wearing a pirate eye-patch over his sunglasses, and one of his teeth was entirely colored in black, looking like it was missing.

"You couldn't help, huh?" he asked, snickering.

"First I wanted to draw a twirly mustache, cartoon villain style." Amethyst explained mockingly "But you already have a mustache. A rad one at that!"

"Haha, thanks, I try!" he replied "I'm glad to see all of this again. Maybe I can pick up a few useful things!"

"Knock yourself out! If you need me I'll be taking care of my own junk."

The Gem turned around and headed towards one of the piles before "reorganizing" it... even though Greg wasn't sure the term was adequate: all she was doing was grab each object, inspect it for a few seconds then, following her own logic, toss it in various ways, sometimes simply over her shoulder, sometimes to the other side of the room by making shot put Olympic champion-like gestures or kicking it in a spectacular way. Every time she was done with a pile, Amethyst would curl up in a purple ball and dash towards the next before resuming her loud and strange labor. The man though noticed she was handling a few items with way more care: he saw her gently grab a small safe at the top of one of the piles and carry it cautiously at the bottom. She then set it aside, gave it an affectionate pat, and went back to her work.

After watching her for a few minutes, a both amused and astonished look on his face, Greg turned to his own belongings: they looked intact, and he was relieved to find out Amethyst didn't toss them everywhere like her own stuff. Actually, the thin layer of dust that was covering all the objects was leading him to the belief that the Gem didn't touch them at all since they were here, for which he was very grateful.

The first thing that caught the man's attention was a red, dented toy wagon with a buckled wheel. Tender memories came to his mind: he remembered how many times Steven sat inside that wagon when he was little, begging his father to pull him up Beach City's lighthouse's hill one more time. At the time, the boy couldn't get enough of riding down the hill at full speed again and again, and Greg just couldn't say no when asked to pull the cart back up, even if he knew the repeated climbs would get him horrible stiffness the day after.

The little wagon was terrible-looking: the last time Steven used it was to transport Rose's cannon to the beach to destroy a giant eyeball that was about to crush the city. The weapon was so heavy that the cart fell into pieces, and even though Greg had tried to patch it up a bit since then, it was still in a miserable state, and was barely running. Still, it would probably be good enough to carry the few things he intended to bring back from the room.

He started with what seemed the most obvious: books. There was many books and comics of all kinds in the pile, and now that he wasn't working anymore, was spending a lot of time alone and had trouble getting inspired for musical creation, reading had become his main occupation. He selected the books that interested him the most and piled them up in the cart, until he came upon a cover representing a female alien creature holding a man in a lascivious embrace. He looked around him quickly then, after making sure Amethyst was far enough, he hid _Passion of Xanxor_ below all the other books he already had in the wagon, blushing a bit.

Then, he grabbed a few clothes that were not too out of fashion and smaller that the ones he already had, which would be useful if he were to actually lose weight. He also added in the cart old dumb-bells he never used before ("It'd be a great occasion to start." he thought), guitar tabs from musicians he used to admire a lot in his youth ("Maybe those will inspire me."), golf clubs ("I should ask Steven to play with me sometime."), and a Polaroid camera ("Just in case.").

He took a few seconds to look at everything he had gathered, then his eyes turned to the rest of the pile. Everything that was in it constituted memories of the numerous activities he tried before, first with Rose, then alone. Tennis rackets with holes in it, board games missing half their pieces, silverfish-eaten ornithology books, paint cans that were so dry that the covers were totally stuck... none of these objects turned out to be useful more than a few months, because Rose would quickly go from one hobby to another, as if she was eager to discover everything. Greg had always wondered why: after all, unlike any human being, she had all the time in the world... As for himself, he couldn't bring himself to throw away anything, even if he wasn't doing the activities in question. "One day I might want to start again." he was saying as an excuse. But these objects were also the only link to the past he was allowing himself to have, as he would normally never bring it up, except when Steven was expressing the need to.

Suddenly, a light-colored spot at the bottom of the messy pile caught his eye. Feverishly he knelt on the ground and removed a box of miniature cars and an autographed wrestling suit to reveal a big, pale pink seashell adorned with an elegant spiral of horns. He recognized it easily: it was the queen conch Rose and him had found on the beach many years ago, the same one that he saw in his dream with Steven. He blew away the dust covering it and stared at it for a while, his hands trembling, his heart beating heavily.

The logic of the dreams he shared with Steven was totally escaping Greg. He didn't understand the why or the how of the existence of these strange globes bearer of pictures and memories, nor did he understand what he was supposed to do with the disjointed information they were bringing him. He didn't know if Rose was behind all this and a part of him didn't want to know, although something was telling him that it would be wise not to ignore the signs those dreams were showing him. Coming across this seashell after having a dream about it the night before didn't seem like a coincidence, which to him was as intriguing as it was scary. With this thought in mind and also the joy to have found a souvenir from a nice moment he had spent with the love of his life, he placed the conch in the wagon with the rest.

"howzit going? Oooo, pretty!"

Greg turned around: Amethyst was standing a few steps from the wagon, looking at the seashell with interest.

"Oh, I didn't hear you arrive." he said with a smile.

"Yeah, I can be pretty sneaky." the Gem replied "Let's see what you got!"

She walked up to the cart and, all of the sudden, shoved her arms inside it. The man's eyes widened: that behavior was a little abrupt and invasive, even coming from Amethyst. Nonetheless he chose not to say anything, but stared at her in unease as she was foraging through the objects he had gathered. She snorted when she discovered _Passion of Xanxor_ , to which Greg just looked away.

"Ah, that's interesting!" She exclaimed after a moment.

She was holding the Polaroid camera and inspected it thoroughly.

"I really like these babies." she stated, sticking her eye on the wrong side of the device "The most fun is shaking the picture and watching the colors appear. I had one of these before, but it's totally wrecked now - prolly shouldn't have put it under my collection of bowling balls. So hey, I'm gonna borrow yours, okay?"

Greg wasn't exactly okay with this, and the unexpectedness of this demand was surprising him a little. Despite that, he mentally shrugged: the camera was not the most precious item he had, and if letting Amethyst have it could make her appreciate him a bit more, it was always something.

"Well, if you want it so badly..." he muttered, not convinced.

But suddenly, the Gem threw her head back and burst into a laughter so loud that it made the already shaky wagon shake even more. Startled by this reaction, the man watched her laugh wondering what was so funny in what he just said.

"You... you were really... you were really gonna let me take that?!" Amethyst articulated, wiping her eyes. Eh, I shouldn't be surprised, you did let me put my hands in your stuff after all!"

Still giggling, she put the camera back into the wagon.

"I... I don't get it." Greg said, scratching his head.

"I was _testing_ you!" the Gem explained, crossing her hands behind her head in a relaxed manner "And sorry to tell you that, but you failed! I wanted to see if you could tell me to get lost if I ever cross your boundaries, but I didn't know it would be _that_ bad! You're one heck of a pushover, dude!"

Greg felt even uneasier: he wasn't sure if Amethyst was fully aware of that fact, but she did put her finger on a problem that was bothering him since he was living with his son and the Crystal Gems. The impossibility to make himself heard led him to many frustrations accumulating day after day and to which he hadn't found a solution yet, aside from writing them down in his diary.

"You're probably right." he admitted, lowering his head.

"See? You're doing it again! I mean, I just insulted you! You really need to assert yourself, man!"

She looked around her, rushed towards one of the huge mountains of objects and brought back an old, damaged armchair she put next to him before gesturing him to sit down.

"Steven told you about this, didn't he?" Greg asked, taking a seat. "He asked you to spend time with me, right?"

"He told me you needed company and said it would be great for the two of us to hang out." the Gem recognized "But the part about you not being able to say no, eh, found out by myself."

She tapped her temple with her index to illustrate.

"First I just thought it was funny," she continued "but I'm getting tired of upset people now! First Steven, now you..."

"Steven is upset?" he cut abruptly.

Amethyst didn't answer and, for a brief moment, her face displayed a concerned look, reflecting the worries she had been trying to hide lately ; Steven could say everything was okay as much as he wanted, she still knew that wasn't true. And even if she didn't insist back then, she had a pretty good idea of what was troubling him: she remembered the boy's distress when he had to watch Jasper helplessly as the corruption was ravaging her body, as well as she saw the guilt in his eyes the night he came to Garnet, Pearl and herself holding Bismuth's Gem in his clenched hand. She also was the only Gem to whom he revealed he was constantly afraid not to be worthy of his mother and, to top it all off, his adventure in space with the Ruby probably left him more vulnerable than he appeared to be, even though he never really told about what happened. Contrary to what the others might think, Amethyst was perfectly able to see all of this, but clueless about how to react, she was just acting like nothing was wrong, waiting for Steven to confide in her if he needed it - while hoping he actually would not, because she hated facing overwhelming feelings and problems.

"Gem stuff," she finally replied after regaining composure "not much you can do about it. But don't change the subject! If you have something to say to any of us, you have to speak up! And if something bothers you, you have the right to yell it out!"

"Uh, I ain't the yelling kind." Greg answered cautiously.

"Oh come on, I know you haven't always been a doormat! There's a least one time in your life when you went berserk, right?"

She couldn't help but think about that time when she persuaded him to watch their favorite TV series, Lil' Butler, for an entire day, making them skip the New Year firework show Steven wanted them so badly to attend with him. Amethyst kept unpleasant memories of that night when she pushed the man to his limit by turning into Rose Quartz. Luckily, Greg picked another event from the past.

"I think I've never been angrier than the day Marty wanted to stop me from seeing Rose again." he said "If he hadn't got out of my van by himself, I'm pretty sure I would've thrown him on the road!"

"Well that's it! Next time we piss you off, just pretend we're Marty!"

"But it was like, twenty years ago Amethyst! I'm not as... passionate as I used to be! And it's not the same. I didn't care about what Marty would think. I didn't care if he was going to hate me after that. All I wanted at that time was..."

He lowered his head a bit, and a glint of tenderness appeared in his eyes.

"So you think we'll like you less if you tell us off when we go too far?" the Gem asked, losing her patience more and more "Dude, it's the _opposite_! People will never respect you if you let them treat you like garbage! You gotta tell Garnet that sweater is too heavy! You gotta tell Pearl that you want your van back! And if you want to hang out with any of us, you just have to ask!"

"I already tried to ask." the man objected in a feeble voice "None of you wanted to spend time with me."

"Are you kidding me? You asked us only once! And we all had a reason to say no!"

"No matter your excuses, I know you weren't interested. I know you guys don't like having me around, you're just waiting for the day you can send me packing back to the car-wash. You would never have asked to spend time with me if Steven didn't request you to."

A silence grew into the huge room, only broken by the ripple of a nearby waterfall. Amethyst let out a deep sigh.

"Okay, okay, maybe you're right." she mumbled "Since that night with Lil' Butler and all, I didn't want to be alone with you again."

"And Garnet and Pearl never really saw me as a friend." he added with a hint of sadness in his voice.

The Gem walked up to him, climbed on one of the armrests, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"But hey, that doesn't mean that can't change!" she said in a tone way calmer than before. "You should've told us this a long time ago! I mean, without that accident of yours you probably would never have!"

"I've said to myself a few times now how what happened to me may actually be a good thing." Greg admitted, smiling.

"Heh, I guess so! Still, you scared the living shards out of us that day!"

"Oh, yeah." the man said with a now totally different, playful smirk "Speaking of which, I heard you've been crying for me as I was in the hospital..."

"WHAT?! Who told you that?! They're lyin'!" Amethyst shouted jumping from the armchair, blushing.

"I'm just teasing you." he assured, winking at her "I'm sorry I scared you."

"And I'm sorry I ate all this food in front of you to taunt you... it was funny, though." she added in a lower voice.

Greg smiled again, then held his fist in front of him.

"So... we're cool?" he asked.

The Gem hesitated, then closed her own fist and gave a slight bump.

"We're cool. Welp, we gotta take care of your assertiveness problem now! And what better to do that than field training? Come with me, and don't forget your sweater ; you don't wanna see what Garnet does to those who disobey her!"

She gestured him to get up then walked away in a slow pace. Greg stood up, grabbed the handle of the red wagon and followed her, reluctantly picking up and putting on the heavy sweater on his way. Both of them headed towards the room's entrance and the door opened in the same organic, strange way.

Time had gone by fairly quickly to the man's point of view: through the windows, the setting sun was already casting a crimson light. Stevonnie's training must have been over since a long time, but there was no sign of the two children, nor Garnet: all by herself, Pearl was standing in the kitchen, staring intently at the oven's door. After a few seconds, Greg saw her put on a pair of kitchen gloves, open the oven and pull out a large pie: the delicious smell that filled the room reminded him painfully of his hunger.

Busy with her task, Pearl didn't seem to have noticed their presence. Amethyst gave Greg a nudge and placed an index on her lips to indicate not to make any noise, then tip toed around the warp pad towards the kitchen. The man had a bad feeling about what was going to happen, but kept quiet.

After sneaking up along the counter behind Pearl's back, who was inspecting her pie with a critical eye, Amethyst jumped in the air and, in the middle of her jump, shapeshifted into a huge purple bear. At the exact same time that the large paws of the beast slammed onto the wooden floor with a loud thud, a perfectly convincing, savage roar filled the whole house.

The reaction turned out to be quite spectacular: Pearl let out a high pitched scream similarly to a parrot getting plucked and pounced against the kitchen wall, opening a few of the cupboards' doors and making several pans fall on the floor in a clanking noise that added up to the tumult. In her fright, she also let go of the pie, which flipped in the air before crashing on the floor on the wrong side, spilling crumbs and cherry jam everywhere.

"AMETHYST!" she yelled, her whole body tensed up, her eyes whose pupils were contracted with rage riveted on her fellow Gem who, after turning back to her original self, was rolling on the floor laughing. Even Greg, who was still by the warp pad, couldn't help but chuckle a bit.

"You should've seen the look on your face!" Amethyst exclaimed, trying hard to catch her breath "Too bad I didn't keep that camera, I could've shown you!"

"Look what you did!" Pearl shrieked, gesturing at the smashed pie and the scarlet trails on the floor, making the kitchen look like a crime scene.

"Uh, I didn't do that. You did."

"By your fault!"

"Oh, cut me some slack P, I thought you liked to clean things! And it was a little funny, right Greg?"

Greg would have preferred being let out of this, and felt especially bad when he saw Pearl's ice-cold eyes turn to him.

"You saw her, and you didn't say anything?" she asked in a dangerously calm voice.

"Well, I, um... I didn't mean to... I wasn't expecting the..." he stammered.

"Whatever! You two will be the ones telling Steven and Connie that it's your fault if they can't have their comfort pie!"

The term 'comfort pie' and her sudden change in tone intrigued the man, and he stepped forward a little. Anger aside, the Gem was looking slightly concerned.

"Did Stevonnie's training session not go well?" he asked.

"The fusion encountered difficulties. I don't know exactly what they are, though. Garnet is trying to help them, she's on the beach with them for now."

Greg walked up to the house's entrance and peered out the window. He saw the silhouettes of Garnet and Stevonnie sat cross-legged facing each other, and wondered what the two fusion might be talking about, when once again he felt an elbow in his flank. He turned around: Amethyst was staring at him with a smile both mocking and encouraging as she was making insisting head gestures towards the kitchen, where Pearl was cleaning up the mess. The man remembered the "field training" he was supposed to do, and that thought gave him a knot in his stomach ; he hardly gulped and approached the kitchen. Without knowing the exact reason, each step was taking more and more effort.

Pearl had picked up what was left of her pie and was staring at it with a sad look on her face. Greg didn't know much about baking but he was almost sure it took her the entire afternoon to make that pie, and he suddenly felt guilty to have laughed to Amethyst's prank, and to have deprived his son and Connie of their comfort snack.

"Do... Do you want me to help you clean up?" he asked in a kind tone.

"No."

The answer was curt. He couldn't blame her for that.

"I'm sorry."

Pearl froze for a few seconds, but then, without giving him a single look, just grabbed a mop and vigorously cleaned the floor, mumbling unintelligible words. Greg felt something tug at the fabric of his sweater and let Amethyst drag him to the other side of the house, near the bathroom door.

"Don't be sorry! Be assertive!" she reprimanded with a low voice.

"Amethyst, now is not the right moment." he whispered sheepishly.

"You're chickenin' out!"

"I'm not!" he protested, blushing slightly (because it was actually kind of true). But I think we better not bother her for now."

The Gem looked into his eyes intently, as if she was trying to find something. Then, she let out a noise that sounded like a sigh mixed with the grunt of an animal.

"What _I_ think is maybe you're not ready for field training yet." she said pointing an index to his chest "But in that case brace yourself, cause from now on, I'll be training your wimpy butt every single day until you get some guts! And when I'm done with you, there won't be anyone on this planet you won't be able to shut up!"

It took Greg a few seconds to fully realize the meaning of what she just said. The promise to spend more time with her in the future warmed his heart beyond everything else ; Amethyst had understood his message.

"Is that a promise?" he asked, knowing the answer.

"You bet your beard it is!" she responded in an aggressively joyful tone, with a big grin on her face.

The man felt the corners of his mouth rise uncontrollably and, to his satisfaction, he noticed he wasn't as hungry as he usually was anymore.

The conversation got interrupted by the front door opening: everyone, including Pearl, turned their head towards Garnet who stepped in without saying a word. Right behind her, Stevonnie appeared in the door frame. They had a weird look on their face, as if the fusion was only half relieved from an unknown pain. Without thinking much about it, Greg went up to them.

"Hey, I think we never got introduced properly!" he remarked, holding out his hand.

"That's true," Stevonnie approved, shaking the hand gently "the first time we met I was only there for a few seconds. It's nice to meet you, uh... Mister Universe? Dad?"

"You can call me Greg. How are you feeling?"

"Oh, well... I would say... I'm here!"

Greg was starting to understand why he was fond of Stevonnie. The fusion represented what he wanted to accomplish himself with Rose, which he only partly obtained. Knowing that his son could live such an experience and get enriched by it was making him happier than ever.

"Yeah." he approved with a smile "We're all here."

* * *

 **Just a little note: yup, the Pond of Shiwes is an intentional reference to the mirror of Erised in Harry Potter. I wanted to keep the references from the fantasy novels that Unfamiliar Familiar is all about. It will also serve my story later ;)**

 **KimDWil71: As always, thanks a lot! I hope you like this one as well.**


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